Befores & Afters

If you'll recall, I stepped it up this year and went from my usual zero New Year's Resolutions to three: lose weight, de-clutter, and attempt to look decent. I am happy to report that I've been doing well on all three resolutions...I have lost nine pounds since Christmas, I almost always change out of my sweats (errr, snow days don't count, right?), and I have been doing so much de-cluttering that my mom asked me if I was pregnant again (NO!).

(Funny side story: When my mom asked if I was pregnant, I was like, "Why would you ask that? I don't remember organizing or cleaning anything when I was pregnant." That's when she had to remind me that I didn't clean or organize anything...she did. Apparently when I was on bed rest, I was bitten by the nesting bug and assigned her tasks like cleaning out the fridge, pantry, etc. Thanks, Mom!)

Anyways, during the snow days I managed to clean out the cabinet under my bathroom sink as well as the junk drawer in the kitchen. I don't have any pictures of the bathroom cabinet (I mean, do you really want to see my various tubes of stretch mark cream?) but take it from me: It's clean and full of things I actually use...except there are a few things I just could not bring myself to throw away:

Look how dark those lines are! Maybe I should have guessed I was having twins! Ha!

Can't do it. I know it's gross and weird. But I just can't. Maybe next time I get around to cleaning out the cabinet I'll be able to toss them, but not this time.

My next order of business was the junk drawer. I forgot to take a "before" picture, but I'll tell you this much: It was full. Of junk. Think receipts from two years ago, phone numbers I jotted down on scraps of paper (with no names beside them, so who knows whose numbers they are), keys that open who knows what, and a few of those little cards you get in the mail for a pair of free panties from Victoria's Secret that expired in 2008. Anyways, here is the "after" picture:

Actually, since the picture was taken, the takeout menus have found a new home...so the drawer is even less junky!

Third order of business was the cabinet where I keep my cookbooks. Here's the "before" shot:

It was a disaster area of old cooking magazines, cookbooks, my recipe box, and tons of loose recipes that I'd printed off the Internet.

Sooo...I got rid of a lot of the cookbooks, put every magazine in the recycling bin (because I never looked through them...I just look online whenever I need a new recipe), and went through all the loose recipes and copied the ones I wanted to keep onto index cards and filed them in my recipe box. Here's the "after":

I put the cookbooks I don't use very often in the back, the cookbooks I do use often in the front, and had plenty of room left over to move the crock pot down from its former home and into this more accessible area. And our takeout menus now reside in the little spiral book there in the front (organized by cuisine!).

Yes, I have been quite productive during Charlotte and Jensen's nap times. I think I am going to concentrate on the laundry room next. There are also a few kitchen cabinets I need to re-organize. Lucky for me tomorrow's looking like another ice day, so maybe I will get a few things accomplished. Who knows, maybe I'll even get crazy and change out of my sweatpants!