New Magical Discoveries Thanks to Konmari & the Flylady

In my quest to become tidier, I have begun to declutter my house by following the Konmari method.  The title of Marie Kondo's book is, "The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up".  I am finding that there is a magical thing happening since I've begun to tidy up my house.  I'm beginning to discover new things about my house that I never even knew existed before.  It's as if once you start this tidying adventure, things begin to just snowball towards improving in a whole new lifestyle.  When I cleaned out my closet, I even discovered that I had some brand new clothes that I had never removed the tags from, which I bought in Japan, over 10 years ago!  Now I have all of the clothes I own in either my closet or my drawers and I know exactly what I have and where it's located.  If I purchase something new, I remove something old.

I have found that Kondo's decluttering technique is excellent to get this tidying quest rolling.  But, now I needed some additional tips on maintenance or daily cleaning techniques to keep the dirt and grime away.  So, thanks to the Our Farmhouse Life blog.  Here is the link to the youtube video that I watched which inspired me to add some of the Flylady's cleaning routines to my daily life....WHICH DECLUTTERING METHOD IS BETTER? | THE FLYLADY VS. KONMARI | MY THOUGHTS

So, I bought the book that she mentioned in the video, "Sink Reflections" by Marla Cilley (a.k.a. The Fly Lady).  I found that some of the Fly Lady's suggestions, I was already doing,

such as weekly meal planning as well as keeping a list of tasks that I want to accomplish in my home for the week.

I also always keep a shopping list which I use when I go to the store.  But, I have found that her lists of suggestions on tasks to check off when cleaning certain zones has helped give me some focus on how to do more cleaning in certain areas of the home.  She breaks up the home into five zones.  Each zone is designated one week of the month to clean up.   I printed off her checklists for the different zones from her website, put them in sheet protectors and check them off with a white board marker.

 You can also use her flylady app on your phone.  However, my phone has been acting up, lately, so I'm using the old-fashioned method for now.

 I started in the fourth week of September.  So, I started with the fourth zone, which was the bedroom.  I must say that I can't remember the last time that I actually cleaned up all of the cobwebs in the corners and our ceiling fan.  I also have been faithful in making our bed everyday since starting this new technique.

The Flylady is big on making sure that you have daily routines as well to keep your kitchen clean.  She believes that as the kitchen goes, so goes the rest of your home.  I have discovered that I am implementing her suggestion to keep your sink shined on a daily basis and it certainly does spark joy for me when I come out every morning to a shiny sink greeting me.  I've also been better about clearing the clutter off of the kitchen table every night, especially since I decided to show off the natural wood of our dining room table.

 
 
The last time I blogged I told you that I was now keeping my dish pan under the sink with my cleaning supplies in it.  An additional change I made this past week was to put my dish drying rack in my coat closet. While that doesn't seem like an ideal location, I honestly can't think of any other place where it would fit.  So, it's working for now.

 

And I'm putting my dish drainer under the sink along with my cutting boards.

My cleaner kitchen has been inspiring me to really spruce things up.  I decided to get rid of my old tea kettle which had handles with sticky, flaking plastic gunk on them and replace it with a lovely and colorful tea kettle that sparked joy.  I also purchased some new kitchen towels, since I hadn't gotten any new ones since we got married 14 years ago.

Even my husband seems more inspired to clear off his stuff more and he even brought home some beautiful hydrangea flowers to spruce up our dining room. And I bought a fragrant fall candle, which I actually light to make the dining/kitchen area smell wonderful.

I think this tidying magic is spreading and making our home a tidier and more beautiful living space.

 I liked the Flylady's idea that "Why shouldn't we treat ourselves as special guests in our own homes?"  So, rather than doing marathon cleaning when outside guests come, it's better to learn daily habits to make our home a pleasant place for us to enjoy everyday.  And then we won't have so much CHAOS (a.k.a. "Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome").

So, since I've started on this Tidying Quest, here are the things that I'm working on:  1.) Decluttering according to the Komari method (I'm presently stuck on the Misc. category), 2.) Daily Morning and Evening Routines, 3.) Weekly Home Blessing Routines of different items to check off on each day of the Week...

and 4.) Zone cleaning that is deeper cleaning that you do in a particular zone for at least 15 minutes per day for one week straight.

I usually can complete my weekly task as well as 15 minutes of zone cleaning in the last half hour each morning before I have to leave for work.  I make sure to always get up plenty early (c. 5:50 am to 6:30 am) so that I have time for daily routine first before I do my cleaning tasks.  I have to leave by 8:40 am.  I always utilize my hour lunch break to sometimes run errands, or come home to do some laundry or throw dinner in the crock pot or else just have some "me" time sometimes in the quiet lounge at our church down the road from my school where I work.

One of the most spectacular discoveries I made in this past week was that while I was thoroughly cleaning off the front of my sink cupboards I had this thought that perhaps there might be something behind what looked like a false drawer just under the sink.

 So, I pulled on it and, Low and Behold!  Here's what I discovered....

 

We've been living here for 5 years and I just now finally discovered this hidden compartment complete with sink stoppers and a wrench for the garbage disposal.  I always wondered why they hadn't left these things for the sink!  Ha!

So, I cleaned it up and found a home for my new dishwashing wand/sponge.

 

You just never know what magical surprises await you until you begin this magical adventure of tidying up!  I think our kitty likes our cleaner home.

The Latest in Household Hacks/Tips

Since I've been implementing the KonMari method from the book, "The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up," I've been trying to implement her tips and get my house in order.  It's an ongoing process, especially since I started a new full-time job this summer.  But, I'm excited about the progress that I've made so far.  One of the recent changes I've made since reading her book is that I've decided to corral all of my different bottles of shampoo and conditioner.  Jay didn't like how they would sometimes fall down.  And it was rather annoying having to move them all every time I cleaned out the tub.  Besides, they tend to get that yucky orange slime after sitting in the humid bathtub all week long.  The cost of the new solution was $0!  I had a little container that I bought a LONG time ago at the dollar store which I repurposed.  I'm happy to say that since I've started using this it's much easier to clean up the bathtub.

 

It's also a whole lot easier to clean the bathtub since I started making my own cleaner.  I can't give credit where credit is due, as I don't remember which blog I "stole" this idea from, but I'm forever thankful that I found out this helpful tip.  I have discovered the best cleaner ever to get rid of soap scum.  And it's simply a combination of two products that I already had in my home.  You mix equal parts of vinegar and Dawn dish detergent in a spray bottle.  And, "Voila!" you instantly have the world's best cleaning solution!  A note:  I still also like to use Soft Scrub with bleach for some tough stains.  It is what we used when I used to clean a hospital.

 

Some other changes that I've made under the sink is to keep my dishwashing gloves out of sight.  I now buy my gloves at a local Korean market.  They are much stronger, last longer and have handy hooks, which I can use to hang them up on hooks I've placed on the inside of my cupboard door under my kitchen sink.

 

One other very helpful tip that I picked up from a Pinterest idea was a way to store my baking sheets and drying racks in a space that is rather dark and hard to reach.  I simply bought one of those dividers at an Office store, which is normally used to divide things like books/papers.  I put it in the dark corner under my kitchen sink and placed all of my baking sheets upright in the dividers.  Much better use of the dark space and easier to get to those baking sheets, rather than stacking them.

 

 Speaking of my sink, I've begun to follow a new practice of trying to empty it every night and clean it real well to make it shine so that I can be happy when I come out into my kitchen the next morning.  I know it sounds so simple, but it's a new habit that actually doesn't come easy to me.  It would be much easier to just leave my dish pan in there perhaps with several dishes that I've left unwashed in it to face the next morning.  I got this revelation to try this new habit after watching, OurFarmhouseLife on Youtube.  Apparently, there are a lot of other people out there looking for these kinds of helpful household tips, since she has over 14K subscribers.  She, too, was inspired to declutter her house thanks to Marie Kondo.  She also refers a lot to the Fly Lady.  So, I have recently ordered her book, called "Sink Reflections".  I can't wait until it comes in the mail.

 

Many people would perhaps think that I have a rather small home. Compared with many Americans, it is on the smaller side.  I believe our home is around 1200 sq. feet.  However, by having a smaller home, it makes a person have to be a little intentional on figuring out how not to accumulate too much stuff.  After all, there is less space to store the stuff.  But, I do make use of space that we have which is not, necessarily a traditional way to use the space.  For instance, since we don't have an entryway, I've turned the space in our garage near the doors into a little "entryway", complete with a new shelf I bought and put together this summer.  I love the Japanese tradition of removing your shoes before entering your home.  That way you don't track in millions of bacteria into your home everyday.  Also, I make use of the pegboard walls to hang up larger pots and pans that do not fit well in my small kitchen.  You may wonder why I have a bag that says, "I'll wash tomorrow."  I'm not actually using it for laundry.  I use it to store several pairs of slippers, in case I have several guests who would like to wear slippers inside, since we remove our shoes.

 

I also keep things like my recycle bin in my garage, as well as my mop.  There are even cupboards out here where I can keep things like excess kitchen appliances, vases, water bottles, etc.  It's where I store items that are too tall to fit in my smaller kitchen cupboards.  So, you see, it is important to make the best use of your space rather than trying to cram too many things in or insisting that you need more space.  I'm learning that the more I'm learning to let go, I actually feel quite content in the space I have.  In fact, Marie Kondo has helped me begin to feel like I need to let go of many things, like worrying that we'll damage our beautiful wood kitchen table.  For years, I've kept it covered up, lest we might damage it.  But, I've decided to expose it so that we can enjoy it's natural beauty.  Here's the change.

 What are some new tips that you've started using that have set you free and made your life more enjoyable?  In other words, what have you been trying which sparks joy for you?  I'd love to hear!

Mountain Getaway for Labor Day Weekend 2017

We escaped to the mountains for this past weekend.  It was filled with bittersweet memories, since one of the reasons we went there was to celebrate and remember Covenant Heights Camp, which is closing after 71 years of ministry.  This is especially sad to us because Chandra worked there one summer, the summer that Jay proposed to her, and it was a special place where Penny went with her youth group on retreats.  Penny and I also enjoyed coming up there to help celebrate the birthdays of foster children attending Royal Family Kids Camp.  We hope and pray that another Christian organization will be able to purchase the camp and it will still be a place to lead children to a closer walk with Jesus.  Here are some photos from our last time at the camp...

Cute train ride at the camp

The Chapel

Worship Time

Here's where Chandra taught art/craft classes back in 2002.

Penny kayaking for the first time.

 

Out of the dry ground He makes new life spring forth!

 The next day we woke up to beautiful blue skies and had a great day driving through Rocky Mountain National Park.  Fortunately, the cold I've been battling didn't bother me too much on this day.  Here are some photos of our fun day trip.  We were fortunate that for our hike we picked a trail that wasn't too busy, since the roads were packed that day.

 We also got blessed because in the midst of the busy weekend, we actually found a very nice site to have a picnic in the park.

 

Look closely at these two photos and you can see a brilliantly blue stellar jay in the photo.  He was nearby scoping out our campsite in hopes that we might leave him some scraps.  However, a ranger stopped by and told us to make sure to get rid of any remnants of food, since there had just been a bear sighting in the area that morning and they were hoping that he would not return.

 

And at the end of the day we were thrilled to not only get to see some elk at a distance, but to actually get to hear one of the male elk bulls bugling to call his harem of females.  The pictures don't do it justice, but I'll try to include a couple along with the beautiful full moon that capped off a wonderful day!

We felt very blessed, indeed, as the next day, Labor Day, we woke up with me (Chandra) feeling much worse from my cold and LOTS of horrible smoke in the air from the wildfires burning all over western North America.  Jay is also starting to come down with symptoms of what is acting like Chandra's cold.  So, pray for us all as we go back to work and school tomorrow.