Getting Organized In The New Year

Hey guys!!  Happy New Year!!!  I can’t believe it’s 2012 already!!  Sheesh! 
I just love the start of a New Year.  Maybe it’s all the hype, but I soooooo look forward to a fresh start.  A clean slate.  And this year is no different.
I am determined to get clean & organized within the next couple of months and stay that way through the year.  I feel like I’m relatively organized, but there are areas of my home where I definitely think I can be smarter with my storage and organization.  There are also some areas that could just plain ‘ole use some organizing.  You know – those areas that you rarely touch in your home.  The ones that hold items that you pull out maybe once a year.  Yeah….those need some serious help in my house!
So, what’s one to do when feeling the organization itch??  Go to Pinterest of course!!!  I have an entire board dedicated to organizing and I plan on implementing many of the ideas I have found there!  Here are some of my favorites!

Source:  Flickr via Pinterest

This is such a great use of those Altoid tins!!  A great way to corral all those “mini” items!

Source:  Real Simple via Pinterest

I need to get my photos organized this year for real!!  Now that I have about 5023487 photos of Emily, I need to organize them!

Source:  ScrapMomMusings via Pinterest

Look at how organized all these craft supplies are!!  I need to find a GOOD place for all my craft stuff and get it organized in clear bins like this (not shoved in the closet under the stairs in black canvas bins that I can’t see into).

Source: Freckles Chick via Brooklyn Limestone via Pinterest

Lord knows I need to go through my closet with a fine tooth comb and get it organized!  I love the shoe rack here with the jewelry on top.  I have to make this happen!!

Source: Creative Organizing via Pinterest

I would love to expand my cooking repertoire this year too and I think finding some good recipes and getting them nice and organized in a pretty binder will help me do just that!

Along with getting organized, I have many other “resolutions” that I’d like to *attempt* to stick to this year {the operative word is “attempt”}!  So….here’s my list of things I’m going to try really hard to stick to this year:

1.  Be a better mom.  Not that I’m a bad mom by any means.  But I’d really like to start taking Emily to some play dates and fun toddler classes.  I want to take her to the park more and just let her be a kid.  I feel like so often we’re just stuck here at home and she’s off playing while I’m trying to get stuff done around the house.  Sometimes that house stuff can wait if it means I get to spend some QT doing fun things with and for my daughter who deserves it!

2.  Eat healthy.  Yeah, yeah.  This is on everyone’s list right?  I kind of started this one last year (only a few months ago, actually) when I lost 35 pounds.  But I’d like to continue it.  I’d hate to gain all that weight back.  I’m pretty sure I’ve already gained 5 of it back since Emily’s birthday.  Yikes!

3.  Blog better.  Man oh man.  I’ve got some neat stuff planned for this little blog of mine for 2012.  I just hope I can pull it all off.  I have so many visions so I’m just hoping to execute them and execute them well.  One of my goals is to make it to a blog conference this year.  I’m thinking Haven in Atlanta this summer.  Yeeeeeeah doggy!

4.  Love my home.  Ya’ll…..do you ever stop to think about just how lucky and blessed you are?  I have been doing more of that lately.  So often I get so worked up and flustered because my home doesn’t have more linen closets, or because we live in Florida and don’t have a basement, or because I don’t have an organized “command center” for mail and magazines and other junk, or because my house is 2 stories and all the bedrooms are upstairs which means I have to walk up the stairs A LOT, or because I don’t have a separate room to claim as my craft room.  I mean…..the list could literally go on and on and on.  For about the past year, I have been itching to move out of this house.  It hasn’t been “good enough”.  Wait….what??  Then I stop and literally want to slap myself for being so selfish.  I can’t believe I have felt that and thought that.  I have an absolutely GORGEOUS home, that is plenty big for our little family of 3 (5 if you count the 2 dogs).  Do I have enough kitchen cabinets to hold all my kitchen items?  No.  Is my pantry small?  Yes.  Would I steal a coke icee from the 711 for a craft room?  Abso-freaking-lutely.  But there are some people who don’t even have a pillow to lay their head on at night.  It’s really cold here tonight and they don’t have a place to keep them warm.  So I resolute to be grateful for my home and really learn to love it and appreciate it for the beautiful place that it is. 

So that’s it!  I’m getting organized and “turning over a new leaf” starting tomorrow!  How about you?  Do you just love the start of a new year too?  Do you have any resolutions you are hoping to stick to this year?

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