What should I do?

I’m torn. I have loved this blog so much since I started, but there are two main problems…actually three. First of all, I started this blog as a way to show my mom the progress in my home from across state lines, but seeing the potential to reach more audience I’m not loving the idea of my entire blog being about decorating. It’s something I love and enjoy, but it’s also not my biggest passion in life.

Secondly, I started Debt Free Mommy over at blogger (www.debtfreemommyblog.blogspot.com) in order to solve that problem, thinking I could do both. The problem is, I can’t! I’m already a home-school mom and potentially serious blogger who spends a big chunk of time cleaning, organizing, and decorating. I’ve spread myself too thin and really only have two options; I could keep focused on just debt free decorating and let the other parts of my life be left a mystery–not necessarily a bad thing–or I could focus all my blogging time on blogger.

And thirdly, I’m having a really tough time deciding between a few regular readers (like 4) who may or may not keep following me if I switch and two great features I like about blogger (easy adsense and way easier linky parties). Adsense isn’t that important right now, but it could have the potential of becoming more important later. However, I adore linky parties, and it’s just not as fun to do them on this blog.

So, what should I do?? Everyone is welcome to comment, but I especially want to hear from my regular commentors. Will it make it tremendously hard to keep following me? Does it really matter? Would you read my other blog or would it be off of your interest radar?

 

New Entryway!!

I am so excited to show you my new entryway!! When we painted the living room and dining room, we also had them paint the entryway…but we had to wait a little while to decorate it as the house was in shambles for a while.

But alas! We’ve done it. Painting’s hung, furniture’s in, floor’s clean, and of course I got a few pretties at the thrift store to make it beautiful.

So, here it is:

I just adore how it turned out!! It cost me hardly anything since I already owned the furniture, mirror and fake tree. I bought the rest at a local thrift store.

Bubzy approves!

 I found this gorgeous basket, a Pottery Barn urn, a little table, Crate and Barrel coasters (not shown) and a few other goodies at the thrift store down the street. They were all just perfect! For now I’m using the Pottery Barn urn as an umbrella holder, but that might find its way elsewhere in my house. I was looking for Entryway stuff, but I just couldn’t pass up on that.

So, what did my entryway look like before?

Umm…yeah. Pretty bad, eh?

Here are some close-ups of different parts of my entryway:

 This is the corner by the front door. I put our old tropical tree there and the cute little table I bought from the thrift store. I also bought this little silver tray to put under the table to draw more light into that corner of the room. I’m not too sure about where I hung the clock. It looks wrong. I can’t decide if I’m going to hang something like keys under it or just move the clock down. Any thought?

This is my entryway chest from Ikea. I bought it dirt cheap, like $25 lightly used from family. I store our incoming and outgoing stuff here. The top drawers are dedicated to mail, but I haven’t set up my system for mail yet–hopefully won’t be too long before I get around to that. The bottom drawer holds my PITS stuff (Pass IT Stuff). I always have outgoing what-nots there, anything from thrift store donations to a plate that the neighbor brought cookies on. I don’t know how we obtain so many things that belong to other people, but I need a big drawer for all of this. The middle drawer is usually stuff that I need time to handle but it’s keep–usually left behind holiday decor, like Christmas mugs that were in the dishwasher when we put up the decor.

Oh, and did I tell you about this painting? Gorgeous!! It’s my absolute favorite. This was painted by the previous owner of the house and the stone floor in the painting…get this…is the same stone floor in the entryway!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Who can say they have that???!!! Is that weird that I’m so excited about something like that?

 This is our “mud room” space. I created seating for putting on and taking off shoes next to a basket to store them in. This is also where I chose to put a mirror to glance at before heading out the door.

This is the coat closet area and the only area I’m not exactly pleased with. I think the walls are what bug me. They’re just too bland. It’s the perfect place to hang a few momentos and family photos, but that will come with time I guess. And, the closet needs a good cleaning out.

Just a second look. Ahhhhh! I LOVE it. Eeeek.

So, what do you think?

Making Space Mondays, Link Party #4

NAP and MAP is by far my favorite part of decluttering because I get to containerize!! I love containers. They are just the best. I could live in The Container Store, but I buy most of my containers at Dollar Tree. NAP and MAP stands for Needs A Place, Make A Place and is the final step in my decluttering cycle. We will be starting with the first of my decluttering acronyms next week and I hope you’ll join me as we continue decluttering our homes.

When I’m working on this phase of decluttering I think toward one main goal–creating a vacuum. Vacuums are empty spaces that when opened up suck in the things around them. The vacuums I want to create in my home suck in a specific type of thing and hopefully when working right, continue to suck them in.

Let me explain when and how I create a vacuum with containers.

 First I identify an area that’s been bugging me but that we use regularly like my son’s dress-up toys above. He plays with them all the time, we’ve already taken them down to truly loved peices, and yet they always end up in such a mess. This is one area I want to create a “vacuum” for.

I  have to ask myself why the current system doesn’t work. So, I’ve been watching for some time to see how they play with this set of toys and this is what I see. I see him digging in the white basket for a specific thing or set of things–like the sheild that goes with his transformer costume or the mask that goes with whatever. The smaller stuff shifts it’s way to the bottom and to get to it they empty the entire basket onto the floor before finding it. So, I need to try something different and see if it works better.

I created 4 vacuums for Abram’s dress up so that the smaller stuff will be easier to find and will hopefully be simple enough to put away. I emptied all of his dress-up onto the floor and assigned specific baskets the work of vacuuming specific types of stuff. (This is also how my children pick up their rooms, btw). So, a basket’s empty…now I just pick up all the stuff that goes there from on the floor. I have the big laundry basket for dress up clothes and swords, a small basket for hats, one for masks, and one for other accessories. I only get as detailed as can possibly work. I tried just the laundry basket, but it just wasn’t enough. This is the next level vacuum.

 While I was at it, I also organized his clothes in his closet with Abram’s favorite color, orange. The hanging baskets are empty for a purpose. They are their own form of “vacuum”. Those clothes that end up hanging all over chairs and bed-rails go here. I figured out a few years ago that the reason they were out was because they were in-between clean and dirty. We didn’t want to hang them back up because they had already been worn–like a pair of jeans–but we didn’t put them in a laundry basket because we could get another wear out of them. So, they ended up not having a place (NAP). These hanging baskets are assigned this task of “vacuuming” up these clothes. When I need a little extra in a small wash, that’s where I go…to the hanging baskets.

I just bought these simple little orange baskets as drawer dividers. They are awesome! I found them at Dollar Tree and they fit perfect. The ones in the drawers hold undies, swim trunks, play shorts, and socks. The ones on the shelves hold things Abram looks for regularly. One is candy that I don’t want to get lost in some corner but that he likes to keep in his room. Another is his money, wallet, and coins.

 ”Vacuums” are sorta like the machines that we use for our floors, they don’t work unless we run them, but when we do they work fast and pick up all our messes. Here is another area that I created places and ‘vacuums’ for things…this one in my kitchen. This is my baking pantry. It was a horrible mess, but I didn’t get before pictures.

So, what area in your home needs a vacuum? Can you clear a place, put in a container and start sucking up the stuff that now belongs there? You’d be surprised how much clutter can be taken care of from around the house by just creating a place for a specific group of things. There’s a familiar saying “Everything has a place, everything in it’s place”, but before everything can be in it’s place, you have to create that place and tell that stuff where it goes.

BTW…Next week is the beginning of a new cycle of decluttering. Whoo! This will be the first time all the way through. Do y’all want to do a specific small room all the way through or work on something you’ve been putting off? Maybe we can all work on something together! If you have suggestions, please let me know.

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Making Space Mondays, Link Party #3

This Monday is TLC time! TLC stands for Tedious Longsuffering Care and is by far the toughest clutter to get rid of.

I had an entire post prepared about TLC, and then set it
aside for this one. I want to journal a little today about just one of my TLC
items that I’ve had trouble getting rid of. It’s 5 bottles of really great
prenatal vitamins.

I had quite a number of prenatals handed down to me by a
mother who had just had her baby when I found out I was expecting. They were
the best, but they made her feel quite ill so she had to change. They were the
same I had used with both of my previous pregnancies and I used them again…this
time without having to pay the enormous price tag. I was grateful and now I have
6 leftover bottles.

I knew that it wouldn’t do any good to donate them just
anywhere because they might just get thrown out if someone ignorant about these
sort of things got ahold of them, so I carefully chose to donate them to my
friend Michelle who works with Crisis Pregnancy Centers. But…as most TLC
(Tedious Longsuffering Care) clutter goes, it is taking quite the time. First I
needed to check with her about if they would even accept them since they were
a consumable item and of course, she also had to check with the right people.
Questions came back about if they were sealed and they were, etc. That part
took about two weeks of back and forth to church conversation.

Then there’s the ‘it slips my mind’ phase, where week after
week we go to church and at that very moment that I see Michelle or her family,
Bam…it hits me like lightning that I have yet again left for church in a hurry
and haven’t grabbed the vitamins. Two months goes by like this and it fades
into the back of my mind where most other clutter does, except that I clean out
the entryway furniture and find it here just waiting patiently to hitch a ride
with me to church.

This morning it came to mind as I was sitting down for
coffee while the kid’s got ready for church. I finally remembered and I wasn’t
going to take the chance. I stuffed it in my already full bag and it made it’s
way with us to church.

We don’t go to a small church, so I keep my eyes opened in
every hallway and look around during service for her. Maybe I’ll snag a glimpse
at her and finally pass them to another caretaker. No such luck.

But then Joshua starts getting fidgety during service and I
have to leave. I only took with me the diaper-changing necessities just in case
and left all other items by my husband’s feet. And, what do you know. Michelle
happens by! (True story—this was just this morning). At first I was excited. I
get her attention as she waves my way and let her know I have it with me but
not actually with me since it’s in the sanctuary. Then she lets me know her
husband will be in class so I can give it to him then. I sigh relief and stop
worrying about it.

Class comes and I see him there, but I’m in the middle of a
deep conversation with some ladies and keep glancing toward the
bottles trying to signal Josh to pass them on to him. Wasn’t happening, but I
think Oh well, I’ll just give them to him after class.

After class comes and no such luck. He left early without
ever having a clue that I had anything of importance for Michelle. Ugh!! I
could’ve screamed.

This is how TLC clutter goes. TLC clutter is haaaaaarrrd to
get rid of. And normally the longer it takes to get rid of the more important
it is. It could be small; two pages that need to be filled out for your
insurance to be paid. It could be very large, like a car parked in your
driveway that needs to be fixed before returning it to your parents. But it always
takes the one thing we all lack—time.

The thing about TLC clutter is, you can’t just tuck it in
some trash bag and haul it away.

If those two little pages don’t get filled out, I could owe
big money to my doctor. So, it takes weeks on end to get rid of two pages.

If we just had the car hauled away, I’m pretty sure that
would have serious relational repercussions.

And, if I decided to just donate those 5 bottles of prenatal
vitamins to the easiest stop on the way to my next destination…then they might
be thrown in the trash instead of being used by a brave women who chooses life
for her growing baby instead of termination.

These are not things that take decisions like “keep”, “toss”
or “donate”. It really can be more complicated than all that. Books about
clutter can make it sound so simple as if there is something seriously wrong
with you if you don’t just throw something casually into one of those boxes.

Getting rid of clutter can be a climb as hard to do as
climbing up Mt. Elbert in Colorado—and I’ve done just that. It really is a
climb. It really takes effort and work. Hard work. Time consuming, hard work.
But every step you take, even the ones that take all of your energy, all of
your resolve, and all of your Saturday off to accomplish…are in the end, worth
it.
So, did I get those prenatal vitamins to Michelle?

Nope, but hopefully soon. But this TLC item was finished today!

Oops Steamcleaning Makes an Oops…

…and how they fixed it!

When we decided to decorate our living room, I knew I was going to hire someone to steam clean my carpets. I normally clean the carpets myself with a rental, so it had to be real steam cleaning to go above and beyond what I myself could do. I researched opinions and got references…and nearly everywhere I turned, the answer was Oops Steamcleaning. So, that’s who I hired.

The guy who came was very informative, making sure the kiddoes knew to stay away from the hot machines and letting us know that what they used was safe and non-toxic. We watched with great interest as he worked on our dingy carpet. The kid’s (and me) were amazed to see years of grime disappear right in front of us.

The night before they came, we had all the guys come over and remove all furniture from our living room. It would’ve been $10 a pop to have them do it and I wasn’t going to pay that when there were strong guys right down the street who were perfectly willing. The only thing we didn’t remove was the dining room table. It was light, but it wouldn’t fit through any of the inside doorways. We were a little worried about it being on the porch (the only door it would easily go through) because it was an antique and would be out in the weather.

I made sure my sis-in-law was there to help move it out of the way as he worked, so she was standing by watching right along with the kids. The guy made sure we put foil under the legs so that they wouldn’t get wet–very much appreciated since I didn’t even think to do this!

Then it happened. He got close to the table and I asked him to wait just a minute so I could pass off the baby to someone else and help Aunt Leah move the table. Apparently, he wasn’t thinking about the table and it’s narrow legging, but instead about two ladies, one with a baby and one tiny teen, about to move the table. He took it upon himself to shove it over as he said, “That’s alright, I got it.”

CrrrrrAck! Leah and I looked on in wide-eyed amazement as the opposite legs from where the guy was pushing (instead of pulling) the table bent under about a foot and snapped the frame by that leg. I was stunned and just stood there wondering what to do. Should I get on the wet carpet to check? I knew it had cracked…it was as loud as a branch breaking off from a large tree. How bad was it? Would the table be okay? It was my antique! And…it had been intrusted to my care by the family who sold us this house. That table was the only thing left that the family might return for later.

As soon as he left the room, acting as if he hadn’t done a thing, I scrambled under the table to check. It had cracked the frame about three inches from the leg all the way through and had left a gap. The gap, I pushed back in place easily but the damage was done like a hairline fracture in a leg. What was he thinking?! Even I knew to never push a table that light. I was upset!

I held my composure, but I had him note on the receipt that he had cracked my table. He noted it, I paid, and he left. Then I sat stunned wondering what I should do.

Giving them a Call:

Two days later, after thinking it over, I gave them a call. I had never been unsatisfied with someone’s service before and was a little nervous. I should’ve eaten first. I was shaky and irritable and probably sounded like a lunatic. On the other hand, they sounded unsympathetic and didn’t want to admit that the problem was theirs. They didn’t want to take responsibility because I hadn’t paid to move the furniture. I was mad. I couldn’t get them to understand that I didn’t pay to have them move the furniture because I didn’t WANT them to move it! I got off the phone and cried.

Then I ate. Probably would’ve been better to eat first! After I called them back with a clearer mind I was able to explain what had happened. They hadn’t understood me and were more understanding this time. Low blood sugar brain has been a cause for several misunderstandings in my family, so I slapped the proverbial “In the past” label on the former conversation and hoped they would do the same.

This time, communicating clearly that we had fully intended to move that furniture ourselves and that it wasn’t our fault that the guy took it upon himself to do so, they offered to fix it. The first offer was to have an antique restoration guy come out and fix the table.

I’m not by nature a trusting person, so I could just imagine some ill-trained guy who worked for an actual antique restoration company slapping some wood glue on it and calling it a day. So, Oops Steamcleaning was going to pay a few hundred dollars to have someone rub a little wood glue on a hairline fracture in my table.

I thought about this for a split second. I wanted the table fixed, but I had a choice. My husband, who’s a pricing analyst (take off the y, s, and t and you’ll have a clue how much he researches even the littlest of projects before taking them on), could fix it himself. Or, some guy I don’t know and have never seen a bit of work they’ve done, could work on my antique Thomasville dining room table. No question. I trusted Josh more for that job. But, they still needed to do something about their mistake. It’s not like they painted a wall the wrong color. They cracked my antique!

A little more split second thinking. You know how that goes when it happens in your head between a question, a pause and an answer, but takes two whole paragraphs to explain? Sheesh. My second thought was to ask myself what would be reasonable to ask. It was, after all a small crack. They were going to hire a guy to come fix it, so they would be forking over a couple/few hundred dollars for the work. Wouldn’t it be easier on them to just make up for it by doing some more work? They had already cleaned every carpet that needed cleaning. I’m not even sure I’m going to keep my drapes. That left my entryway floor and my enormous kitchen floor. The entryway was smaller. Okay, I’ll ask for that.

So, I did. I told them I would rather them just come clean my Entryway stone work then to send a guy out to fix the table and they agreed. We set the day. I found out later that this was a very pricey job.

I hadn’t expected much change. I had scrubbed this floor down before on hands and knees with disappointing results. Cleaning with expensive machines might get the edges cleaner and give me peace of mind about old grime, but really that’s the extent of my expectation. But…take a look!!

First of all, they sent their top guy. He may be wearing grungies, but he spoke like a Suit. This was either the owner or management. They weren’t taking any chances! I bet they had never broken an antique before and most likely hadn’t made a mistake anywhere near as big in the past. They were serious about fixing things.

And, what an After!! I had no clue the color was this light. Look at the swirls in the stone!They’re visible!! Did you catch the painting behind Mr. Fixit? The stone is the same floor painted almost three decades before by an immaculate housekeeper. It’s not even this light. Amazing!

So, would I use them again??

Well, only if I can get over my low bloodsugar, ogre-lady phone call embarrassment!

Making Space Monday: Link Party #2

Depths of Clutter: How I Begin Decluttering An Area

PITS (Pass IT Stuff)

I’m going to take the opportunity to let you into how I declutter while decluttering my own spaces, little by little. I hope to continue this through my whole house—including before and after pictures. Since today’s focus is on PITS, I thought I’d tackle the Entryway furniture where I stash the things I’m distributing elsewhere until I can get to them. When I find shirts that are too small for Abby, I stash them here for one of her little friend’s who’s a year younger. When I come across a silver spoon that Berk (previous owner) left by accident when he moved out, I stash it here until I see him again. This space gets full of PITS often and fast.

It’s the PITS!

Ha! I just love acronyms. They make it easy to remember steps. PITS is our focus this week and this is one of my favorites. It’s the decluttering that actually gets the stuff out of your house for good. This is the stuff most people think of when decluttering–taking a trip to Salvation Army, waving the proverbial hand goodbye as they drive away from their junk and feel proud of themselves for having 3 entire garbage bags full of stuff, gone forever. This is the step with the decluttering high. The one where you can give yourself a high five for finally ridding yourself of junk.

I know I do! I count the bags and estimate the weight. I imagine my house being weighed on a gigantic scale. Ah–20 pounds gone in one day. Refreshing. Uplifting. This is the good part. It can also be the fun part.

Did you know that planning a visit to a friend can be a PITS stop?

That’s right. When I declutter an area and bag all of the items going to other people, I write their names on a list. My list is on my iphone on Toodledo. I happen to love that app…GRIN. I actually think to myself, hmmm…I wonder if Berk would like some company sometime soon. And, I know he does cause he loves stocking ice cream just for the kids to come by and dote on him for being the best. I see it as this great excuse to visit someone who we love hanging out with. “Hey Berk. We have a few things we found that are yours. Would you mind some company?”

Of course, that’s the fun part. Decluttering gets much harder than this. But allow for that reward. The high of seeing large amounts leave at once, visiting a friend “just” to drop off some odds and ends, and “having” to get out of the house because you need to drop stuff by the thrift store.

Don’t forget that this part, though fun, is actually vital to your success. In order to free yourself of masses of things attempting to strangle the life out of your day, things do actually have to leave. Making plans to do this is an important part of dejunking your home.

And who knows…you could find a treasure while you’re out!

Today is the first of my weekly focus posts and today’s focus was on PITS (Pass IT Stuff). That means next weeks focus is on TLC, Tedious Longsuffering Care. This part of decluttering is by far the toughest but is also the most perminent! Please join me next Monday and don’t forget to link up your own posts. The more information people have at their fingertips the better.

Now, why did I say “begin”?

I have found, with few exceptions, that I can rarely finish
with absolute completion, decluttering a space in one fell swoop. I think
expecting that is why so many people fail at it and give up. Instead I like to
start the process with a bang and then allow momentum to carry it through to
completion, while the rest of life is allowed to continue. In fact, if you
expect yourself to completely declutter a room before going on with your daily
life, you may fall farther behind in chores than you can easily recover from.

Quick Abbreviations:

OOPS-Out Of Place Stuff

E.T.’s CUP-Easy Trash and Clean Up Place

PITS-Pass IT Stuff

TLC-Tedious Longsuffering Care

NAPs and MAPs-Needs A Place and Make A Place

Start with a Bang by looking through an entire space and then let momentum carry you through to completion by focusing on each of the 5 depths of clutter.

I always sort each item into these catagories: OOPS, ETs CUP, PITS, TLC, and NAP and MAP.

Here are the steps I took for this space so that you can see how I use my acronyms:

1.
Empty out a small area that you can look all the
way through before you need to run off to cook dinner or get to a Ladies Night
Out. You can always go to the next small area if it was quicker than you
thought. You will need a small laundry
basket, a trashcan proportional
to what you expect to use, a small basket
or bin that can fit  back in the area you’re decluttering (for this space I wanted to make sure it fit papers, but only a small stack’s worth), several grocery bags, some scraps of paper, and a pen or
marker.

2.
As you sift through 1 item at a time, you will
be putting it in one of the following: OOPS
laundry basket, for anything that belongs to you but is out of place, E.T. trashcan for anything you just
need to quickly toss, PITS grocery
bags, TLC bin, and NAP pile.

3.
If it’s just out of place or trash, you know
where it goes. OOPS in laundry
basket and trash (ET) in the trash
bin.

4.
If you run into something that you want to pass to someone outside of your household, and you don’t need to
do ANYTHING except take it to that person/place, then put it in a bag labeled with
that person’s name (PITS). Some
things that might go here are things that a friend’s child left behind when
they were visiting, things you have already designated for the thrift store,
or things you have borrowed and need to get back to the owner. If you have to do
something with it before it goes to that person, it does not go here. But if
all you have to do is take it to the person, bag each group of things based on
where they are going. That’s what the scraps of paper, marker or pen and
grocery bags are for.

5.
Now, if you come upon something that requires
more attention than you can give it right now, then it goes in the TLC bin. This includes bills that need
to be paid, papers that need to be filled out, a vase that’s broken and needs
to be glued, a necklace that needs to be untangled, an apron that needs mending,
or even a magazine that you want to read. Anything requiring more attention than you can do right now while you’re
working here, goes in TLC. We will
be discussing this one in detail soon. I would suggest at least putting important, time sensitive stuff where you know you can find or at least at the very top of your TLC bin.

6.
If there is something that you come across where
the item does not need attention, but
putting it away needs attention
it goes in NAP and MAP. This is
stuff like bills that have already been paid and just need to be filed, a game piece
that is out of its box, or toilet paper that needs to be separated and stored
in all three bathrooms. The difference between TLC and NAP is in what needs
attention…the item itself (TLC) or where it belongs (NAP and MAP).

7.
Now that you’re finished sorting the items into
these piles, you’re ready to deal with them. First, make a quick list to keep with you
of the people/places that each of your PITS (Pass IT Stuff) needs to go. If you’ll
be heading that way soon, go ahead and put the bags in the car. If not put them
somewhere that you can remember to grab when it’s time. Keep this list close to
your calendar—that way when you notice that you’re going to church and you have
two things that are going to people who you will see there, you’ll remember to
take them.

8.
Throw the trash away and put the can back where
it goes.

9.
Put the things away that go in different places
in your home and put the laundry basket away.

10.
Stash things neatly and as near to where they go
as you can if they are in the NAP and MAP category. If you can easily deal with
them, like filing papers, then go ahead and make the time. We will deal with
this in greater detail soon as well.

11.
Quickly glance through your TLC bin for anything
that is time sensitive and make sure it’s put in a place that you are familiar
with and can deal with it soon, or you can just make sure it’s on the top of
your TLC bin if you don’t have a good place for it.

Well, that’s it for this week! Next week is TLC. TLC, or Tedious Longsuffering Care, is the toughest part of decluttering and is definitely for me, the one area that crowds MY house. Not dealing with this can, and for me does, stop up my home like a dam in the middle of a flood. Please link up any post(s) you’d like and then join me next week for a focus on TLC.

(If you’re looking for Link party #1, it’s not on this blog. I could only get it to work on my blogger account. The only way it works (maybe, haven’t tried it yet) is with the link below. It should start accepting linkups at 10:30 tonight.

SUNSHINE AWARD!

I’ve been nominated for the Sunshine Award by fellow blogger Momwhearingloss.  I only started blogging a few months ago, but feel like I’m starting to get aquainted with some of these women. Momwhearingloss is a women after my own heart, who loves to decorate without debt and loves to go thrifting! I hope someday if our paths meet that we can sit down at a coffee shop and drink a hot cup of coffee while getting to know each other’s stories a little better.

The Rules:

The Sunshine Award comes with a few rules:

• Include the award’s logo in a post or on your blog
• Answer some questions about yourself
• Nominate some other fabulous bloggers
• Link your nominees to the post and comment on their blogs, letting them know they have been nominated
• Share the love and link the person who nominated you!

The Questions:

Love or Money?

All ya need is LOVE..da da da da.

High salary or job satisfaction?

If you know I homeschool and blog, then you probably already know the answer to that one.

Favorite Book?

I keep thinking, Besides the bible? That’s really my favorite. I mean, if you consider…nope, that’s still hands down the one favorite. It’s the only book that I can curle up with on a rainy day and feel less lonely, the only book I search fevershly for answers, and the only one that speaks back to me. My second favorite would be The Hiding Place. Seriously makes me cry every time I read it.

Television character that you simply adore?

Don’t hate me, but I love House. Dry, cranky, brilliant, and couldn’t care less what anyone thinks. Except for the dry part, reminds me of my hubby. He will argue with a fly about flying–gotta love it!

Favourite Music – I like it completely quiet most of the time. I rarely have music on. For me, though, it’s more about quality than type. If it speaks to me, makes me move, or grabs my attention, I like it.

Favourite type of movie(comedy/romance/suspense/action/horror)

Same as music–I like it for the quality more than the type. If I had to pick, it’d be action/suspense.

When I feel very sad or depressed I…..

Cry and get mad at everyone for the littlest things. I curle up on a comfy sofa with coffee and watch LOTS of tv until it passes and then try and make up for it later. I know. Not my best side.

Now for my nominees – Okay, so a couple of mine got nominated by momwhearingloss, too, so I will totally understand if they don’t answer all the questions over again. But I still think people need to know how extraordinary they are.

Kylie M Interiors–One of my favorite blogs! Great tutes on decorating and design and so funny. Really enjoyed chatting with her through the guest post.

Amy Button–Dare I say, first Blogger friend? I just enjoy chatting with this lady who also homeschools her kids and loves to decorate on the cheap.

Mari–also a blog friend. I think we may have a little more in common than we think.

Dr.Cristy–puts a tremendous amount of thought and research into her devotional blog. I enjoy sitting down to hear her thoughts every now and again even though I’m not big on devotionals.

Homes and Heels–I love reading this gals decorating posts! And if I ever feel the need to start dressing in style, this is the first blog I’d go to.

How can I stop? Really there are more I’d put on here if I had more time!! Cloches and Lavender, EasyGoing Organizer, Everyday Commotion, …consider yourselves nominated with the Sunshine Award! You guys are all great. Feel free to copy the reward and follow the directions just like the rest.

And, BIG thanks to momwhearingloss for nominating me!! You are fabulous!

P.S. In order to make the “button” work, I had to right click on the picture, save it on my computer, put it on photobucket and paste the html code in.