More Secrets

There was a time when I was a one-kid mom running my own home. I have since evolved to a three-kid mom sharing the homemaking responsibilities. I think things are about equal ... more kids, less homemaking responsibilities. I thought I'd share some of what I do that has made keeping house MUCH easier for me.
Before we moved in with my folks and the only kid I had nipping at my heels was Eve, I used the Card File System. The what??, you ask. I got this idea from the book Sidetracked Home Executives, a book my mom read when she was a young housewife and passed on to me. It's a great system to organize your chores and appointments and everything else you want to accomplish in a day, week, month and year. I'm hoping to go back to this system once things stabilize around here.
Now I use a calendar. I made a blank one that I framed and write in the days, month and chores with a dry erase marker. My goal these days is to do ONE chore a day. For example, this week looked like this:
- Monday: Our room
- Tuesday: Bathrooms (mine and the girls')
- Wednesday: Girls' rooms
- Thursday: Laundry
- Friday: Closets
Sometimes I end up doing laundry more than once a week and "closets" isn't on there every week. It usually rotates with something like "floors" or "organize" or something like that. I'm a big list maker. I feel SUPER accomplished if I can finish my one chore a day (which I usually can) and check it off. I feel like an ober achiever if i can manage to throw another chore in too.
BUT IS THERE TIME FOR ALL OF THAT?? A very valid question, I frequently ask myself. The answer is: But of course!
Part of the hole Card File system I mentioned above is timing how long it takes you to do one chore. Not how long it takes to clean the entire bathroom but how long it takes to do each individual thing: clean the toilet, wipe down the sink, clean the shower, etc. It's AMAZING how long it really takes you to clean something! I can clean my entire bathroom in about 3 minutes ... THREE MINUTES! That includes straightening, wiping down and scrubbing the toilet, spraying down and rinsing the shower, wiping out the sink, wiping the mirror and cleaning off the floor. So if time is your issue, I encourage you to set a timer and let yourself see how it really doesn't take that long to get stuff done. I was amazed! I'm sure will be too!
What secrets do you use to gets daily chores accomplished?

Right where I'm meant to be.

I've blogged before about how I do what I do in hopes it will give other moms some new ideas and tools.
Today I wanted to talk about why I do what I do in hopes to encourage others.
I've lived such a full life! I have been so extremely blessed to live out my dreams and have experiences I never would've thought possible. I was an Air Force journalist for 4 years. I worked as an EMT and nurse tech caring for people. I made it through nursing school with zero school debt. I've piloted an airplane, traveled the world and had countless adventures.
I'm currently living another dream ... being a mom. However, there are still unfulfilled desires in my heart. I graduated nursing school in December and had Eve in March. When I was pregnant I wasn't 100% sure if I was going to stay at home full time or work. When Eve was about 9 months old I decided to look for a job. I was offered a job as a nurse in a newborn nursery and was almost through the testing process to be a firefighter for 2 different cities. It was when I was on the brink of accepting a job outside of the home that I realized I was being offered a once in a lifetime job opportunity ... raising my baby. I realized that I would NEVER have this chance again. I would never have the chance to see my daughter's first steps, first words, first food, teach her things and watch her grow. Nursing could wait. Firefighting (a dream I'd had since I was 16) could wait. God was calling me to a different purpose.
Even now, there are days when I lose my focus and get online to scope out jobs. I have a $30,000 degree that many people would see as going to waste. I still want to be a nurse. I want to go back to school and eventually be an advance practice nurse. But that's not where God wants me to be right now. Spending my days thinking about where I could be and what else I could be doing, takes away from this job. It puts my mind on something else, somewhere God doesn't want it to go right now. I'm confident there will come a time when I will see those dreams fulfilled.
I understand the NEED for moms to work. Times are hard. But I encourage you moms who are struggling with being home with your kids to pray about where you're supposed to be. If the Lord says "With your kids" I encourage you to BE with your kids. Get off the internet, throw away the job listings and shelve those dreams that are out of season. Surround yourself with people who encourage and support you in this job because yours is a once in a lifetime job and not everyone gets the offer.

Yours, Mine and Ours

Single me with my softball buddies about 2 years before meeting my hubby. Fortunately, these amazing peeps have become "ours."

I had a thought today. When you get married there is a merger of many things, friends included ... or not. 

My thought was, What happens when he has his friends and she has her friends and she doesn't like his and he doesn't like hers? Does everyone give up their friends? Does she only hang out with hers and he only hang out with his? Do they develop "our" friends? Do they compromise and hang out with each others' friends even though they don't want to?

Justin and I had a pretty short relationship before we got married, 14 months all together. We've had a few issues with this but it hasn't seemed to create too much conflict, thank God! 

What is your experience with or thoughts on this? 

Army Wives

I've been watching (addicted to!) the Lifetime show Army Wives. I was excited for the new reality show Married to the Military to start and after watching 2 episodes I was pleasantly surprised to see the shows are pretty similar.

Most of the wives on Married to the Military talk about representing their husbands well and how their roll of Army wife and mom is so important because their husbands are fighting for our country. They're passionate about it! They watch the things they do and say as to not disrespect or dishonor their husbands.

Unfortunately, I've seen firsthand how this line of thinking isn't continuous among all military wives and I know not all civilian wives live lives disrespectful of their husbands.

I asked myself, "Why isn't this line of thinking more common among all wives?" I completely understand the special calling of putting your life on the line to protect and defend your country. But even though my husband isn't risking his life on the front lines, why should my devotion to representing him well be any different? Why is it OK for me to act unbecomingly and say things that would embarrass or disgrace my husband just because he totes a wrench or a pencil and not a grenade or an M-9? Doesn't that mean that our level of respect for our husbands and our positions as their wives is contingent on what they do for a living or their "service"?

What do you think? Do servicemembers and people who put themselves in harms way for others deserve more from their spouses? Should more respect, more honor, more understanding, more tolerance and more patience be expected of them?