Kitchen

The kitchen had an extreme makeover. I swear all my cabinets were shoved full of stuff. No wonder I hated cooking (are you sensing a theme here). 

I'll be trying to put the before and afters together. I got rid of so much!

This is where all our tupperware and large bowl storage went. Now I can find everything so much easier. 

This is my cooking cabinet. It's right below were I put my mixer. I was in the middle of cleaning it when I remembered to take a picture. It looks so much better now. The boxes have all the cooking supplies in them; brown sugar, flour, chocolate chips, etc. The basket has mixing cups and tablespoons. Now I have all my lids together on the bottom shelf in a container. The large bowls have a space. Now I can actually find my blender. 

Under the sink didn't change too much. It's the only place that will fit my tall mixer and my baking and cutting boards. 

This was an odd cabinet that I never really used. I actually forgot about it since we moved here and hadn't touched it again. All the tupperware went to DI if I couldn't remember it. Now it stores extra plates and our quail egg containers. We use it everyday now. 

The cup cabinet became a mess when we started buying baby cups. Now it's all organized and doesn't have more than what we use. 

Our food cabinet always became a mess. I moved a bunch to the pantry and have a drawer of snacks. 

My oven mitt drawer was way too full. Now it's nice and clean with only the amount I actually use. 

This was the really messy junk drawer. I changed it to the large spoons and such. It makes sense since it is by the oven.

















My silverware drawer got moved to where everyone thinks it should be. You know when you go to someone's house and open the drawer where the silverware should go. Well I moved it to that spot. I also moved the kids silverware in with ours because it makes a lot more sense. 

 













I cleaned a bit out from the random drawer and added all of the knives to one drawer. Much easier to get to it all. 

The snack drawer. Man I am sure you are all thinking I am such a messy person. I don't think I am but somehow pictures speak louder than words... Now it is my beautiful towel and wrap drawer. 

My old spatula and wrap drawer now has hardly anything in it. Some of Porter's favorite plates go here. 

The spice drawer didn't get much of a make over. It's so easy to find everything because I labeled all the tops. I do need to go through it and cut down a bit. I loved putting spices in such a easy way to store. Usually they are hidden in a cabinet and you can never find them. 

The baking drawer actually has containers in it to sort things. There is certainly not a ton to sort when you decide you never use it. 

Our computer is on the kitchen counter perfect for watching favorite shows while cooking and looking up recipes. We put the keyboard in a drawer so a little boy I know isn't tempted to climb up the counter. So it's kinda like a junk drawer but not anymore. 

I like having things in drawers. It is much easier to see. Porter got into this drawer one too many times. Now I have two drawers for snacks and breads.

I hate putting plastic cups in the cabinet. They are too easy to knock over and they just end up getting crammed in. My drawer didn't change much. It's so easy to find which bottle I want. Plus I don't really care if Porter goes through this drawer. 

This cabinet above the sink was a disaster too. I moved a bunch of it to storage and gave all my tea things away. I loved it but never used it. Now it's nice to have everything fit. I also narrowed down my thirty cook books I never read to my seven favorites. They are also in an easy place to get to them. 

I hope you enjoyed my kitchen. I should have taken pictures during the disaster of cleaning. Here's the after. I cleaned the top of the fridge off, got rid of extra magnets and papers on the fridge, got better bar stools that don't scratch our floors (Target clearance) and have everything tucked away where it should go with room to spare. 

I also have Porter's toy room in our kitchen but went down from three shelves to one. Talk about less clean up!

Pantry and Laundry

My pantry was all the left overs when we moved in. I had no idea where to put all of it so it just got shoved in. It was a disaster. I could never find anything and it's no wonder it's a clutter fest! 

I was able to put things right where they belong. Now I have tons of space in my kitchen because I moved things to the storage room. I at least left this room with four boxes to give away. I love walking in here and just goggle now.  

On the opposite wall is the laundry. It was a mess. No wonder I put off laundry all the time. I hated it... 

I was able to find places for everything. I even made it pretty. Moving the laundry divider downstairs made a huge difference. Now I just carry laundry down every other day and sort it. I also just have two laundry bins (the coral ones) that are small. So I can't pile up laundry for days. Now that it's organized I love to sort laundry and put it away because I don't have to deal with extra clutter or extra clothes. This picture is also three days later. This kinda ugly space became one of my favorites. 

Bathrooms

I hope we have gotten pretty close because we about to get closer. Here's my bathrooms. No judgement on the mess. I can't be the only one with a mess of a bathroom cabinet. I fixed it though! Here's the giant mess...

Now it's so beautiful! I can find everything and I got rid of everything I never use. In here hold extra towels, toilet paper storage, makeup divider, and toilet cleaners (since it's far away from Porter). 

I love that I finally have a bathroom that I love getting ready in. It's decorated so cute! Easy to find my jewelry, my towels are finally hung and I have my cute decor. My small cabinet has our toothbrushes and face cleaner. You can also see my declarations on my mirror. I say them in the morning and at night when I brush my teeth. 

This is our main bathroom below. The counters used to be cluttered and now it has only basics. I also read in The Art of Tidying to take your shampoos out of the shower. I love that my shower is easy to clean and I don't have worry about Porter knocking them out all the time. I have tons of bottles because my hair doesn't take to one kind very well. Now they are stored under my sink in a bin. I dry them off before they go back in the bin. That way I am just grabbing what I need for the bath. It looks much better now. Also you will notice I keep all my garbage cans in cabinets, Porter can't get into them and dogs can't get into them=easier life... 

Porter's Bedroom

Porter had a pretty big change in his room also. I forgot to take before pictures so you won't know how bad it was before. With our bedroom needing an update for our relationship, Porter's room needed it for me and him as well. I love this little boy but he can sure drive me bonkers. I love that we can fits everything in his bedroom easily now. 

His bed we added somethings to make more his. Like a lamp, which he can turn on and off by himself and his night light. Also all his books are on the shelves easy for him to get to. Under his bed there are drawers for his stuffed animal toys. We only keep quiet things in his room with him.  

This storage nook was a disaster. Everything was just thrown on it. Now it's got all his cute nik-naks to display. 

 Here's the closet. This closet has tons of storage. I did the same thing as our room and got rid of  his dresser. Which he mostly dumped out all the time. Everything on the middle shelf was in his dresser. I also put his laundry hamper in. Now he actually will pick out his shoes and socks for the day, throw away his own diapers, and put his dirty clothes in the hamper. Yay! This closet also has tons of storage on the sides. So I added his swim things on one whole shelf, his next clothes that fit him, plastic bags to put stinky diapers in, his blankets at an easy reach, and a shelf for clothes that don't fit. 

 

















Porter's room came together nicely. It was all there just not in the right places. I love that he can put his own things away now!

My Bedroom Makeover

This room had the most dramatic change. Others may not see it as much as I have but it is amazing. I was in this wonderful classes Overwhelmed to Organized by Becky Edwards and she talked about a couple that were struggling. They learned that their bedroom personified their relationship. So she started cleaning it and keeping it pretty. Anytime they fought she went straight to the bedroom and started tidying again. Their marriage strengthen and deepened. I thought, well their is no harm to trying it. Jaren and I definitely do not have the perfect relationship and it has been something we have been working on. 

As I started thinking about my bedroom I had an instant thought wash over me. I needed to get rid of my bedroom set. I really thought that was a crazy idea, since I have a beautiful bedroom set. I bought it years ago and really love it. As I thought about it more it made sense. I bought it with my ex-husband and even more so it had so many negative feelings surrounding it from exes after that. I knew that every time I saw a dent or ding on it I was reminded back to that time and that place. They needed to go! I never even thought that maybe my large items around me created a negative atmosphere. So they went! It was the best decision I made. 

I am still looking for a new bed frame and Jaren and I decided we will build a headboard together so it can be our space. The difference may not show in pictures but the feeling still stuns me. I can honestly say our bedroom does affect our relationship. We are so much happier now and a lot more connected. Here's the before and afters. ( I forgot to take before pictures of my bedroom. So they are in the middle of the mess...) 

The closet was a pretty big transformation. It went from totally crammed to having a lot of space. Jaren had both the top racks and I had both the bottom. Now we both have half on top. Our dirty clothes hamper fit in our closet instead of the huge divider that was in our bedroom taking up space. We also finally fit all our shoes in. The most remarkable is the middle shelves. Every single thing on the middle shelf is from our dresser... We don't have a dresser taking up room anymore! Our bedrooms are all so tiny. It's so nice to finally have space!

 Below is the dresser that was taking up tons of space. So all of the clothes that were in there fit in the dividers in our closet or they are gone. We decided to get a bookshelf instead. Then we can still display our beautiful things but not have a storage spot that makes it feel cluttered. On the bookshelf is only things that make us really happy. Like my Am/Pm power-up material, my vision board on top, my wedding bouquet, a rock my husband got me for my birthday (I like rocks), My Harry Potter set (yes I am a nerd at heart), the best of our books, etc. 

It may not look like much but it really has made a huge difference in our home and marriage. Updating the bedroom completely helped our relationship and I can't wait until it's finished. 

How I Changed My Life in a Week

That seems like a crazy thought, changing your life in a week. It's true though. I have literally changed everything in one week. All I changed was my morning routine. I was told about this routine months ago and even did parts of it but sleep just sounded so much more important. I decided to challenge myself to the daunting task of waking up early. Let me preface that I love sleep. A typical morning would usually start like this... Porter would wake up about 4 in the morning and would climb into bed with us. Then anywhere from 7-8 wake up and tell me the morning had begun by shoving his binkie face into mine and yelling, "HI!" I mean an adorable wake up but then I began my day running. I felt like I couldn't stay on top of things and was overwhelmed. By the time daddy got home I was a mess and the house still looked like I chose to do nothing that day. It all changed in one week...

I decided to start my morning by taking care of myself first. It sounds so selfish but the truth is if you start your morning happy doesn't it affect everyone around you. So here are the five simple things I started my morning with. 

I will do a step by step of each of these habits I use myself. I can tell you they vary. They've even changed this week. I learned these from my great friend Kathy Stoddard in her Got Happy?! class. I highly suggest you jump into the class. It literally transformed my life in so many ways. Here's the link to her Facebook group; 
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1033793546666792/ 
join to learn when her next class is! I first learned this from her, she has so much wisdom that she loves to spread to me and many others. I'm also taking another class on organization from the amazing Becky Edwards. I was expecting in an organization class to jump into home organization but she talked about how it's more important to organize your mind and thoughts before you organize anything else. Check out her blog for dozens and dozens of other tips on how to organize your life. 
http://purposedrivenmotherhood.blogspot.com/ 
So by now I have learned in two different classes about how important it is to have an morning routine.. maybe it's time to start. 

So I  did. I started putting Porter back in his bedroom in the morning when my husband left for work and shutting the door. He sleeps now until 9 most mornings... even longer some days. Why didn't I think about this months ago! Then I started waking up myself earlier then him. I didn't need to do 6 in the morning.. I just started with 8 and ran with it.

First, I would wake up and begin with writing my FADES. Frustrated, Anger, Disappointed, Emotional, Sadness. You start by taking a word and writing it over and over again. Thinking of all the time you felt those emotions. Then crinkle/throw/rip what ever you need to do to get the emotions out. It may sound silly, especially because you may not wake up to those emotions, but it really helps prevent blow ups throughout the day because you took care of those feelings. They aren't bottled up anymore. You can also do this throughout the day as you feel the emotions. 

Second, I would say my declarations. Mine are really simple as I am building up to creating better ones. They are reflecting things I'm currently working on. At first it will seem weird to say these things about yourself but then they just become true one day. I totally have seen it. Right down what you want to work on and then say you already are that person. It's amazing how it becomes who you are. 

 

Third, probably my favorite thing I do. I write my letter to Heavenly Father. Wow this has become an amazing part of my morning. It's essentially like writing a prayer but the awesome part is I can go back and look at them. I begin by writing my letter to him. In gratitude and then begin in some help I need in my life. Whether a specific area or just in general. Then... wait for it... I write back from him. It's amazing to have the inspiration and I have become really in tune listening for answers. You may be reading this and saying, 'Whatever Tess..' it truly works! I do it every morning and my answers have ranged from, generic to specific. Like last week when I was told to count to ten when Porter throws a fit. I have had amazing results from this small morning routine. 

 









Fourth, I have scripture study. I have battled for years to have daily scripture study. I want to more than anything but struggled finding time. Now every morning I start my day with scriptures. You can do a verse or a chapter. Whatever you need. I bought a study guide from the Red Headed Hostess. It's My Book of Mormon Study Guide. I usually do a page a day and now I love scripture study. Here's the link if you are interested, https://www.amazon.com/Book-Mormon-Study-guide-Diagrams/dp/150558244X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1468857337&sr=8-1&keywords=red+headed+hostess

 

Fifth, I would get myself ready. Being ready by 9 every morning made me feel really go and ready to go for the day. I loved having that time to myself so I didn't feel slimy and sweaty all morning. I felt motivated for the day!

Those are my five things! What do you think? You can edit them the way you would like. In fact I suggest starting small and advancing as you feel accomplished. If you feel overwhelmed then you are likely to not do them. So maybe for yourself you decide to wake up a 10 minutes earlier and read your scriptures. Celebrate it! If you don't feel like celebrating.. I will celebrate for you. Even little things should be celebrated. If you want more happiness and more joy in life, you have to be willing to change your life to get to a higher standard. Being lazy never got me anywhere, being uncomfortable and trying something new changed my life dramatically!

 

Lastly, my upgraded list. After a week of doing these little steps I upgraded! I added a few more things to my list. I added singing and dancing in the morning. Music immediately makes your soul sing. It brings joy and happiness. I start my morning by putting on quiet positive music during my morning routine. It makes a hug difference. Then I turn it up. I get the dancing music on and I am so filled with happiness and joy. Music should be part of my daily life. It brings joy like nothing else. I've also heard music can bring the spirit faster than anything else. This has made a huge impact on my happiness! 

 

I really hoped that this morning list has helped you in some small way. Whether it's to take a different approach to your mornings or to try the whole thing. Let me know what you are going to do. I would love to be your cheerleader because that's what we are here to do. Cheer each other on and make our lives the best they are meant to be. I know it because I have begun to live in joy!