Goal Two-- Get my House Organized

So my house is a cluttered mess.  I manage to keep up with the cleaning aspects that have to get done to prevent my house from becoming a breeding ground for mold and bacteria like toilet scrubbing, dishes, laundry, wiping counters, that type of thing.  But I rarely  find time for the deep cleaning chores (mopping floors, dusting more than once in a blue moon, scrubbing windows, cleaning the fridge.)  Nor do I ever find time to declutter and organize.  I thought about hiring a cleaning person, but honestly until I tame the clutter it is kind of pointless.

So my second resolution this year is to work on getting a system in place that rids my house of clutter.  I have done okay so far as over Christmas break I bagged up a small bag of toys for my sister to keep at her house, packed up a crate of toys that I want to hold onto for the next kiddo to put up in my mom's attic and a crate of too small Destructo clothes (if I could only find the missing Rubbermaid top grr), and did an entire garbage bag of stuff to take to Goodwill.  Which is made more impressive by the fact that amazingly enough I actually took it to Goodwill right after I got my tire patched and jogged two miles.  Yeah yeah, I felt impressive yesterday.

I think I am going to do a combo of the Justmommies cleaning calendar with a little Flylady thrown in.  I love the printable calendar that was on the Justmommies site and I am going to throw in the Flylady daily missions on days I have time just for good measure.   All these links are below along with one that has all different free printables to help you organize your life.  I also found the Home Storage Solutions site that looks like it could be helpful as well.  Check them out and let me know what you guys think!

And now, here are a few pictures of my secret shame.  The most cluttered areas in my home.  I hope that in posting these, it will motivate me to get the house more organized so I can post some decluttered after pics!

The office is our worst area in the house.  On the other side of the room from this pic, is a futon that my poor sister has to sleep on once a week when she keeps Destructo on Monday and Tuesday.  This room nearly makes me want to cry every time I step in it.

Cluttered Office

 This picture really pains me as usually my closet is the one place in the house that is fairly organized.  I was storing all the presents in there before Christmas and  it just got worse and worse since I couldn't get in there very well.  Then I got a new organizer that I am waiting on Mr. Destructo to put together so I pulled the old one out for Destructo's closet (which is super organized right now yay!)

This is under my bathroom sink.  At times I have gotten it organized, just to let it slip back into chaos.  It is currently driving me insane.

These ledges (there is one on the opposite side above the kitchen sink as well) are hot spots for clutter.  The good news here is that they do get clutter free fairly regularly, but then it all builds back up.

So what tips do you guys have for keeping the clutter beast tamed in your house?


Helpful Links:

http://www.justmommies.com/articles/home-organization-plan.php

http://www.organizinghomelife.com/archives/4388

http://www.home-storage-solutions-101.com/organized-home.html

http://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/

http://www.mysimplerlife.com/decluttercalendar.htm


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Couch to 5K-- Goal one of my New Year's Resolution

 I decided to start running again back in October.  I used to run way back when I was in college for a few years and have always enjoyed it.  Add to that the insult I got when someone congratulated me on being pregnant again (I'm not) and I had some motivation.  I started kind of spur of the moment on October 15th when I had just had enough of hating the way I look post pregnancy while out on a walk with Destructo.

It has been a slow go as I am jogging with the stroller and the dog and I don't normally get home until 4-4:30 so with the time change, I can't always go out like I want to and we really don't have room for a treadmill.  And throw in the fact that between Kai and I, we can't stay healthy since the beginning of November.  But I am slowly making progress.  I haven't lost a whole lot of weight yet (which is okay because I am not overweight really at all just out of shape.)  But I can tell my fitness level is really growing.  The first week I struggled to jog 60 seconds, now I am can easily jog 8-10 (which is nearly a mile) minutes at a time.

Edited to add:  And last night I jogged 22 minutes (2 1/4 miles give or take) with only two walking stops once for about 15 seconds to catch my breath and once just because I didn't want to muddify my awesome shoes when I hit a muddy spot on the path.) Did I mention I did this while waiting to have a tire patched in 34 degree cold?  I was a proud proud runner.

I am going to be running my first 5K at the end of the month.  I don't think I will be able to actually run the entire thing, but I hope to be able to run at least half of it before having to walk a bit and then being able to jog the second half of it.  Or maybe I will surprise myself and be able to jog the entire thing.  That would be a happy surprise.  We shall see.  I will be sure to update you guys on how it goes.

So here are my tips for success in C25K:
1)  Get a good pair of running shoes.  I have Asics on the recommendation of a close friend (who has been invaluable in my running journey) and really like them.

Aren't they bright and pretty?

2)  Download an app that times your intervals, maps your route, etc for you.  It is easier to stay motivated when you can look back at your stats and see improvement.  I use Run Double.  I also post each workout to Facebook.  People like it and I get even more motivated to keep up.

3)  Have awesome music while you run or something else to keep you motivated.  I am kind of curious to check out the zombie run said friend mentioned.

4)  The first day you will be super sore.  I haven't been sore since.  It really builds up strength and endurance slowly.

5)  Don't stare at the scale.  I was frustrated at first because I was actually gaining weight, but it made sense once my friend explained it to me.  Your body starts holding on to fat because it is like what the crap are you doing and is in a state of shock that you are actually exercising.  Awesome medical advice huh? 

6)  If you are really struggling at a certain workout, don't move on to the next.  I have repeated entire weeks before rather than push myself.  It seems to be paying off as I am feeling more and more strong while running and am able to go longer distances.

7)  Don't let yourself make excuses.  I  could make an excuse about why I shouldn't run every single day if I let myself.

8)  Have a good carby snack before.  I really like granola bars.  Bring water while you jog.  I get super thirsty especially if it is warmer out.

9)  Don't stare at your phone as you jog counting down the seconds until that particular interval is over.  I do so much better when I just get into a rhythm. 

Here are a few links that I really like:

http://www.geekfitness.net/   This is the new blog of the friend I mentioned above. He is a great writer and has lost a ton of weight (which is still weird for me when I see him since he was always bigger.) 

http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml  This has a chart with all the weeks worth of workouts for C25K.

http://www.c25k.com/

http://www.livestrong.com/woman/

http://www.runnersworld.com/

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