Newlywed Home

Today's To-Do

2011-12-30T04:40:00.000-08:00

Hmmm...so it's been a long time since I've done this! Here we go again:

1. Spend 15 minutes tidying up kitchen.

2. Go to the doctor to see if I have an ear infection (please no!)

3. Spend 15 minutes tidying up the Christmas tornado that hit our dining room.

4. Put up rocket wallpaper in TC's room.

5. Do one load of laundry.

Going Gray?

2011-09-15T04:16:00.000-07:00

As you can tell from the picture, my roots are coming in.

I'm sick of dying my hair all the time. It's expensive. It's messy. It really can't be healthy. I've seriously considered this before. I've always chickened out.

For some reason, I can't stop thinking about it now. I think I might do it...

Moms of Multiples Resale!

2011-09-13T04:52:00.000-07:00

If you're in the Chicago area, this weekend is the big Moms of Multiples resale! I've shopped this sale before, and it's a great way to get the things you need for your kids for a great price. Here are the details:

Saturday, September 17 · 9:00am - 12:00pm

Unitarian Church of Evanston

1330 Ridge Avenue (at Greenwood)
Evanston, Illinois

Shop a huge selection of gently used children’s clothing (NB-5T), toys, books, baby gear and equipment, strollers, high chairs, car seats, and much, much more!
$1 General Admission – please bring a single dollar for quick entry

CASH-ONLY SALE

One laundry basket per shopper allowed inside; NO strollers, please.
Please visit www.momsofmultiples.org/resale for more information.

DEAL ALERT: $10 for $20 in Groceries at Whole Foods on Living Social!

2011-09-13T04:44:00.000-07:00

Sweet! I love when there are deals for stuff I actually use. There's a deal on Living Social right now for $20 worth of groceries from Whole Foods for $10. Yippee!! Click below to get your deal:

https://livingsocial.com/deals/123805?ref=conf-jp&rpi=25835375

Whole Paycheck no more!

Menu Plan Monday 9/12/11

2011-09-12T06:58:00.000-07:00

Here's what's cookin' this week:

Sunday - Rotisserie chicken from Sam's Club, brocolli, refried black beans, Kashi rice pilaf

Monday - Velveeta chicken dish (I had a coupon for this Velveeta mix thing), peas, cilantro rice

Tuesday - Mahi mahi, cilantro rice, refried beans

Wednesday - Steak, twice baked potato, frozen veggie

Thursday - Salsa chicken in the crockpot, rice

Friday - Yummy barley recipe from the Cooking Light cookbook, pineapple, tortilla chips

For more menu fabulousness, check out orgjunkie.com.

Weekend To-Do Follow Up

2011-09-12T04:37:00.000-07:00

I'm a little disappointed that I didn't finish the list this weekend. My husband was out-of-town, and I had some computer issues, so that sort of made me less productive. I'm proud of what I did get done though, and I'm happy I got to spend a lot of time with my sons.

Here's what happened:

1. Create menu plan for the week. Done!2. Prep grocery shopping list and coupons. Half done. The list is made, the coupons are planned, but not clipped.
3. Do two loads of laundry (one each day). Done!
4. Give the boys a bath - this is going to be tough. The boys want to be on the move all the time! Done!
5. Feed the boys mangoes for the first time. I'm nervous about this one. I had a friend who was allergic to mangoes, and I really hope that our boys aren't. Done! And, without allergic reaction.
6. Keep up with my Daily Feats and Superpoints accounts. Trying to earn some free Amazon gift cards. Done! I didn't get any gift cards from these sites, but I did win one from Swagbucks.
7. Order diapers from Amazon. These should be free since I've earned a bunch of free credits. Done & free!
8. Prepare for the Moms of Multiples resale. It's only a week away, and I need to get items ready. If you're in the Chicago area and have kids, you might want to check it out. Click here for more information. Done!
9. Spend one hour working on a classroom website (I'm a teacher). Not done. School computer crashed.
10. Pictures of maternity clothes for Ebay. Not done.

Weekend To-Do List

2011-09-10T04:13:00.000-07:00

Ahhh...the weekend is here! Time to tick off some items on my to-do list. Here's what I have in store for this weekend:

1. Create menu plan for the week.
2. Prep grocery shopping list and coupons.
3. Do two loads of laundry (one each day).
4. Give the boys a bath - this is going to be tough. The boys want to be on the move all the time!
5. Feed the boys mangoes for the first time. I'm nervous about this one. I had a friend who was allergic to mangoes, and I really hope that our boys aren't.
6. Keep up with my Daily Feats and Superpoints accounts. Trying to earn some free Amazon gift cards.
7. Order diapers from Amazon. These should be free since I've earned a bunch of free credits.
8. Prepare for the Moms of Multiples resale. It's only a week away, and I need to get items ready. If you're in the Chicago area and have kids, you might want to check it out. Click here for more information.
9. Spend one hour working on a classroom website (I'm a teacher).
10. Take pictures of maternity clothes to sell on Ebay.

That's a lot. Considering that I only really have nap time to do this, it's going to be tough. I think I can do it, though...

The Vinegar & Water Solution

2011-09-09T04:16:00.000-07:00

My sons are at a stage where they like to move around and get into things, but they also spit up. It's gross. I was using Clorox wipes, and sometimes baby wipes if I was in a pinch, to clean up all of the various little puddles of spit up that seem to appear out of nowhere. While I liked the disinfecting properties and convenience of the Clorox wipes, I felt funny exposing my little ones to the fumes from the chemicals...even though they usually weren't around when I used them.

I've always been a big fan of using vinegar to clean everything, but during this busy season of my life, I thought I didn't have the time to put the extra elbow grease into cleaning naturally. I needed quick and easy. I needed wipes pre-soaked in a bleach solution. Thank you Clorox.

This weekend, the little ones actually took a two hour nap at the same time. I was able to be totally productive, and I stumbled upon my old stash of Sam's Club vinegar. It's cheap. It's non-toxic. I decided to wash out an old Windex bottle and fill it up with a solution of 50% vinegar and 50% water.

Then I started spraying stuff. First I tackled the exersaucers. They have so much nasty old spit up on them, it's embarassing. At first the mess didn't come off. So, I sprayed again, and I let it sit for a while. I came back five minutes later, and I was able to get everything off the exersaucers. Yay!!!

So, now I keep my bottle of spray vinegar & water solution within an arm's reach. It's really helped me keep up with all of the little messes.

Image from fsbohow2.com.

In Search of Organic Meat & Fish

2011-09-07T06:00:00.000-07:00

Lately there's been a lot of publicity about the benefits of eating organic. Especially since the movie Food Inc. was publicized on the Oprah Winfrey show, it seems as if interest in eating organic has become even more wide-spread.

I tend to be a tad cheap when it comes to buying groceries. However, I'm convinced that it's worth the extra money to spend more on quality ingredients. One thing I'd like to do is try to eat at least one meatless meal each week. We've also tried to incorporate more fish into our diets.

But it's all so confusing! I thought we were being super healthy by eating salmon once a week, and then I read that if you're eating Atlantic salmon as opposed to Alaskan salmon, you're doing your body more harm than good because of all the chemicals. Since I've learned this, I've noticed that it can be downright difficult to find Alaskan salmon!

Chicken is a whole different story. I'm able to find organic chicken at a very high price at my local Whole Foods. But I wonder, is the chicken that is labeled as being grown with no hormones just as good? It's certainly a lot cheaper.

As with many things, there's a ton of conflicting information out there about what should be organic, and what doesn't need to be. I don't know who to believe. Who has the facts, and who is trying to employ scare-tactics in order to make a buck?

Clearly, I don't have the answers to this one. But if anyone out there has any ideas on this topic, please comment away!

Menu Plan Monday 9/5

2011-09-05T12:33:00.000-07:00

Here's our menu plan for this week:

Monday - Pork Lo Mein - recipe from the newest All You magazine. Making big batch of baby food - prunes (boy do we need them in this house!)

Tuesday - Brats & onions on the grill, baked beans, applesauce. Making big batch of baby food - nectarines

Wednesday - Mahi mahi, whatever random frozen veggies I can dig out of the freezer, Kashi rice pilaf

Thursday - Salsa chicken in the slow cooker with cilantro rice

Friday - Healthy Choice frozen dinner, fruit

Saturday - Out to eat with the family!

For even more fabulous menu plan ideas, be sure to check out orgjunkie.com.

I'm Back!

2011-09-05T12:20:00.000-07:00

After a long time away from blogging, I decided to revisit this blog...and I laughed so hard that it made my Minute Maid squirt out my nose.

I have twin boys. My house is never clean. In fact, I am never clean.

I cannot believe I used to do all of this house cleaning.

Clearly, my focus has changed. Things have gotten considerably easier in the last couple of months. I'm still working and raising my two boys, but I'm also getting sleep at night. Thank goodness.

So, I'm going to try to get back into blogging, and hopefully I'll be able to find some of my old buddies from the blogosphere. I'm going to keep up all of the cleaning stuff, but please know that I won't be doing them until the little bambinos go to college.

Fresh Food Fast Cookbook

2010-03-16T11:37:00.000-07:00

Because our Superfast Suppers cookbook by Cooking Light ended up being so great, my husband ended up buying me another Cooking Light cookbook. This one is called "Fresh Food Fast" and promises five ingredient, 15-minute recipes. One of my prerequisites for a cookbook is that it have fast recipes with few ingredients, so hopefully this cookbook will deliver.

A lot of the recipes in my menu plan for this week are from the Fresh Food Fast cookbook. I'm enjoying using these cookbooks a lot more than I thought I would. They are teaching me about different ingredients, and I like the fact that they're pretty healthy. I was concerned that I'd spend a lot of money on extra ingredients, and that hasn't been the case. My grocery list for this week was relatively short because we already had a lot of the ingredients on hand. Who knew?

Reviews of the new cookbook coming next week...

Ides of March Week Menu Plan

2010-03-15T08:00:00.000-07:00

Here's what's cooking for this week:

Sunday - Balsamic Chicken with Roasted Tomatoes and Mushroom & Zuchinni Orzo, Salad, French Bread

Monday - Leftover Thai food from this weekend

Tuesday - Pesto Shrimp Pasta, Salad

Wednesday - Corned Beef & Cabbage with family

Thursday - Tilapia with Warm Olive Salsa and Lemon Couscous with Toasted Pine Nuts

Friday - Out to eat with our fantastic out-of-town friends! :-)

Getting Back on Track

2010-03-14T11:32:00.000-07:00

After a long, unplanned hiatus caused by bad luck and a chain of unfortunate events, I am back to blogging! Things are starting to calm down a little bit after my father's illness, my surgery cancelation drama and my bout with the stomach flu. It's nice to just have the normal everyday worries to contend with, and I'm thankful that my family and I made it through this tough time relatively unscathed.

I contemplated not blogging anymore, but decided to keep up with it. Although I don't have many readers, I have really enjoyed "getting to know" a lot of people through this blog. And, supposedly, this blog is supposed to keep me on track with my domestic activities.

Thank you to those of you who have stuck with me! It's good to be back on track.

In Need of Prayers

2010-02-22T15:17:00.000-08:00

My father has been in the hospital since last Wednesday. I probably won't be blogging too much until he gets better. He needs all of the prayers he can get right now.

A Tip for Salty Shoes

2010-02-20T06:00:00.000-08:00

After all of the snow that we've had, my black shoes were looking pretty sad. They had so much salt on them. I tried wiping the salt off with water, but it didn't work. Finally, I tried getting the salt off with vinegar, and it worked.

I love vinegar!
image from theartofdressingwell.com

Cleaning Granite Countertops

2010-02-19T06:00:00.000-08:00

What's the best way to clean granite countertops? This is a question that come up a lot. And, truthfully, I'm not really certain about the answer to the question. About two months ago, I started doing research and I came up with a lot of conflicting information.

Because I'm a saver, I decided to try cleaning the countertops with a combination of alcohol and water. After using this combination for several weeks, I've decided that it's a great method. It's simple, and the alcohol in the solution disinfects the countertops.

I also bought some special granite polish spray that I use about once a week. It was really expensive, so I'm glad I don't have to use it every day. After I use the polish, the countertops look really nice.

Here's some more information I found about granite countertops if you're interested in exploring the issue further:

Cleaning countertops with a concoction of alcohol and Dawn dishwashing detergent is highlighted here.

This site ranks the best ways to clean granite countertops.

A lot of the information on the internet is complete non-conclusive. Check out the article here to become even more confused and frustrated.
image from supremesurface.com

Is the Cleaning Necessary?

2010-02-17T06:00:00.000-08:00

I've been using my cleaning lists for a while now, and I've realized that I'm wasting a lot of time spinning my wheels. I'm so obsessed with sticking to the lists that I'm not being smart about my cleaning. If something's not dirty, I shouldn't be cleaning it! However, if my list tells me to clean something, I do it.

It's madness!

So, I've decided to start slacking a bit in my cleaning. If something is clean, I'm not going to re-clean it.

Duh.
image from summitstreetgarden.blogspot.com

Weekend To-Do Report

2010-02-16T06:00:00.000-08:00

Phew! What a busy weekend! Even though it seemed like we didn't do much, we got a lot done.

1. Plan menu for next week - Done. Click here to see the menu.

2. Trip to Sam's Club - Done. I was a bit disappointed that they didn't have any organic meat or Alaskan salmon. But, I ended up spending $100 and came home with a lot of healthy stuff.

3. Regular Grocery Shopping - Done. I ended up shopping on Monday morning, and it was so nice. No crowds. Everything we needed was in stock. Heavenly!

4. Laundry - Ugh. There's still a load running in the dryer.

5. Order new running shoes - Done. More Saucony Stabils are on the way.

6. Color hair - Done. Thank goodness!

7. Make a nice dinner for my wonderful husband - Done!
image from doulamomkk.blogspot.com

Menu Plan for the Week of 2/15

2010-02-15T06:47:00.000-08:00

After planning the menu for this week, I'm ravenously hungry! I've been struggling with menu planning variety for a while, but that's changed since I got my new cookbook. Most of the dinner recipes this week are coming from Cooking Light's Superfast Suppers. Page numbers are included in case you happen to own a copy of the cookbook. I hope the recipes I picked for this week are as good as last week's:

Sunday - Leftovers buffet + WINE + Caramel Apple Cranberry Crisp (thanks to Mere for the recommendation)

Monday - Roasted Asparagus on Parmesan Polenta with Roasted Pesto Tomatoes (p. 220)

Tuesday - White Bean Tomato Pasta (p. 209)

Wednesday - Out to eat!

Thursday - Chicken Picatta with Garlic Basil Pasta & Steamed Green Beans (p. 188)

Friday - Shrimp & Feta Scampi (p. 127)

To-Do List - Today!

2010-02-14T07:43:00.000-08:00

I've been in hibernation/slacking mode for a long time now, hence the need to make a massive to-do list. Here it goes:

Plan menu for next week - this should be easy because we have a lot of dinner dates with friends and family this week.
Trip to Sam's Club - I'm on a quest to find meats and fish that don't have a lot of nasty chemicals in them, and I'd like to buy them in bulk. Sam's Club isn't close to home, so I hope this trip will be worth it.
Regular grocery shopping - I'm slightly obsessed with coupons, so I'll also be scouring the internet and newspapers for good deals before heading out.
Laundry - This has gotten out of hand. I have NOT been doing my load of laundry each day like a good girl.
Order new running shoes
Color hair - I have some majorly gray roots
Make a nice dinner for my wonderful husband!

Rave: Superfast Suppers from Cooking Light

2010-02-13T11:20:00.000-08:00

I've been having a really tough time coming up with good menu plans lately. And I've been really complaining about it. After reading Jillian Michael's latest book, Master Your Metabolism, I'm really trying to do a better job of eating cleaner. Having that as a goal, and only having my limited recipe arsenal as a resource for dinner ideas, I was quite stumped. Luckily, my husband is a total angel, and he bought a copy of Cooking Light's Superfast Suppers: Speedy Solutions for Dinner Dilemmas.

At first I was skeptical. I've always thought that the Cooking Light recipes had too many ingredients, and I didn't want to spend an hour each night preparing dinner. Surprisingly, this cookbook completely rocks. Considering that I'm a very, very novice cook, the recipes in this book have turned out wonderful. A lot of them taste like something from a restaurant, which in my book, is a great thing.

Here are a few of the recipes we tried last week:

Pan Roasted Brocolli - delicious!
Basil Scallops with Spinach Fetuccine - wonderful!
Sesame Garlic Brown Rice - okay
Microwave Green Chile-Chicken Risotto - tasty and totally easy

I also finished off my bottle of salmon marinade from Whole Foods for an easy salmon dinner. We also bought a rotisserie chicken for one of our meals, and then used the leftovers for the chicken risotto recipe.

So, overall, I'm very pleased. And I'm happy that we're eating healthier.

Stay tuned for more recipe reviews from this great cookbook!

Weekly Cleaning: The Kitchen

2010-01-29T14:29:00.000-08:00

This one's a doozie! It took me about an hour to complete this cleaning routine, so that's why I decided to put it at the end of the week. In reality, a lot of times I don't come home and/or don't have the energy to do this on Friday nights. If need be, this weekly cleaning list can be postponed until Saturday morning when you have more energy.

However, if you don't have anything to do on Friday night, it can be a nice way to get in a workout (for real, this is hard work), and your kitchen will look fabulous for you all weekend.

Here it is: the Kitchen Cleaning Routine:

De-trash the fridge. Get rid of anything that looks even remotely nasty.
Wipe one fridge shelf or drawer
Empty/load dishwasher if necessary
Wipe cabinet pulls and drawer pulls
Wipe fridge handle, stove handles and knobs
Clean stove hood
Clean stove top
Wipe 2-3 cabinet fronts
Clean front of dishwasher
Clean counter tops
Polish counter tops (if you have the kind of counter tops that require this)
Shine sink (a la FlyLady)
Take out trash and wipe out inside of trashcan if necessary
Vacuum floor
Mop floor (I'm using my new steam mop!)
Scrub anything that's still left on the floor

I'm really hoping that the more I do this, the faster it will go. Hopefully I won't have to do every step every week. This week I probably spent about 15 minutes trying to get rid of one stubborn spot on my floor. I hope I don't have to spend that kind of time on floor spots every week. The kitchen is definitely where the cleaning ladies earn their paychecks!

How Clean is Your House?

2010-01-28T07:00:00.000-08:00

Hopefully your house is cleaner than the ones that are featured on this show. But, if not, have no fear! These sassy cleaning experts are ready with lots of tips and tricks for getting your house in order.

How Clean is Your House airs on the BBC. Most of the houses are in the UK, but several of the more hilarious episodes were filmed in the US.

Click here to see cleaning tips from the stars of the show, Kim and Aggie.

This program is so inspirational, and it always motivates me to go clean something. Plus, it's totally funny.
Image from wnetwork.com

Weekly Cleaning: Living Room/Dining Room

2010-01-27T07:00:00.000-08:00

We rarely set foot in our dining room, so I decided to clean it on the same day as the living room. If your dining room gets more use, you might want to dedicate a separate day to cleaning it too. Here's the Living Room/Dining Room Cleaning Routine:

Clean cobwebs
Dust all surfaces and items
Clean end-table and coffee-table
Wipe switchplates, remotes and phone
De-clutter reading materials (newspapers, magazines, etc.)
Vacuum
Clean hardwood floors (I'm using my steam mop to do this step)

This takes a little longer, but we use our living room for almost everything. It's worth it to get it clean and *hopefully* sanitized.

Weekly Cleaning List: The Bedroom

2010-01-26T07:00:00.000-08:00

Fortunately, this cleaning list is pretty easy to get through. It took me about 20 minutes to complete all of the tasks:

Clean cobwebs (if necessary)
Dust all surfaces
Change sheets
Wipe switchplates and doorknobs
Straighten one drawer

An easy cleaning day...and it's so nice to have clean sheets to sleep on!

Menu Plan for the Week of 1/25/10

2010-01-25T07:00:00.000-08:00

I'm on my own again this week, so I'm keeping things really simple:

Monday - Tilapia, asparagus and sweet potato
Tuesday - Biryani, apple sauce and sweet potato
Wednesday - Pot stickers and edamame
Thursday - Stir Fry and sweet potato
Friday - Out to eat with friends :-)

Lots of sweet potatoes to use up this week!

Sunday's To-Do List

2010-01-24T12:54:00.000-08:00

Boy, it's been a crazy week. Between getting grades done, arranging things with my doctor for a procedure I'm having in March, and trying to get the day-to-day essentials done, I've been crazy busy. Things seem to be calming down a bit, so it's time for me to get going on my to-do list!

Sunday's To-Do

Finish up laundry
Go through fridge and get rid of anything that's even slightly nasty
Paperwork
Menu planning
Grocery shopping?
Clean kitchen (it needs it...bad!)
Wii Fit step while watching Desperate Housewives

What are you up to this Sunday?
Image from getzscope.com

Weekly Cleaning List - Bathroom

2010-01-21T15:59:00.000-08:00

We have more than one bathroom in our house, but for simplicity's sake, I'm just cleaning one bathroom per week. That's enough, eh?

Here's my cleaning list for the Bathroom:

Clean outside of toilet
Empty trashcan
Clean inside of trashcan
Clean shower door
Scrub floor
Wipe switchplates, doorknobs and drawer pulls
Dust baseboards and any other surfaces that need it.
Wash one area rug
Straighten one cabinet or drawer

You may notice that I'm not scrubbing the inside of the shower. I've decided to take a tip from the FlyLady and clean my shower while I'm in it. We'll see how well that works out!

I have a ton of alcohol wipes, so I'm using those to wipe the switchplates, doorknobs and drawer pulls. I left a big stack of unopened wipes in the bathroom in case I see anything gross in the bathroom that needs to be sanitized during the week.

Overeall, this cleaning took me 25 minutes. Much less than I thought it would, but it was really hard work.

Shark Steam Mop Review

2010-01-18T08:58:00.000-08:00

As promised, I'm back with a review of my new Shark Steam Mop. Overall, it's a good product, and I'll definitely get some use out of it. However, it's not the miracle product that I was hoping it would be. Here's why:

It does not remove sticky disgusting stuff on the floor. I tried using the steam function to get rid of some mystery spots, but it wasn't effective. Now I have to go back with some cleaner and a rag to really get rid of the spots.
It doesn't pick up EVERYTHING. This is largely my fault. I did not sweep the floor before using the mop, so I ended up pushing a lot of bigger icky things around with the mop. So, now I'm in the market for a super stick vacuum that I can use to pre-clean the floors before mopping.

The really good stuff about the mop:

No chemicals. It just uses water and steam made from the water.
No buckets or wringing out mops. I hate that.
It's fast. It took me about 10 minutes to mop my kitchen. Nice!
You can wash the microfiber cloths.
I tried it out a little bit with my hardwood floors, and it looked great afterwards.
It's small and light.

The more I write about the mop, the more I like it. As for the fun factor...it's not a totally good time, but it's not bad either. I'd compare it to an after-work party after all of the bosses have left.

Does anyone else use this mop? Any tips for a newbie like myself?

Steam Mop Mania

2010-01-18T08:22:00.000-08:00

Something that's been really weighing on my mind has been cleaning my floors. I HATE mopping, and I completely suck at it. Now that I've vowed to clean my own house, I'm going to have to mop.

I decided that I'd just clean with a few rags and soap instead, and I did that last week with one of my bathrooms. It was super easy, because the cleaning lady had just mopped the floors a couple of days ago.

Yesterday I started surfing the interweb, and I came across product reviews on Amazon for a Shark Steam Mop. According to the reviews, this mop could be the answer to my mopping quandry.

Unable to wait, I went to Bed Bath and Beyond this morning, and I bought one of these mops. As I type this, I'm eyeing the unopened box with anticipation. According to the reviews on Amazon, this mop is supposed to make mopping easy and FUN. Please pardon me for being a tad skeptical, especially about that last claim.

I'm off to try out the mop. Will post review, including comments on the fun factor, later today.

Menu Plan Monday - Early Edition!

2010-01-17T14:48:00.000-08:00

I'm totally behind with all of my weekend to-dos, but I did manage to scrounge together a menu plan for this week. Here's what's cooking:

Sunday - Chicken Masala with Rice
Monday - Crock Pot BBQ Ham, Brussel Sprouts
Tuesday - Tilapia, Cooked Spinach, Biryani
Wednesday - Bow Tie Pasta with Ham, Peas and Mushrooms
Thursday - Beans & Rice with corn tortillas and guacamole
Friday - Out to eat!!

Weekend To-Do List

2010-01-15T08:00:00.000-08:00

Finally, a relaxing weekend at home! Here's some of the stuff I'm hoping to get done:

Take clothes to the cleaner
Organize and store Christmas decorations (for REAL this time!)
Unpack placesetting of china and put away in the right spot.
Re-arrange displays in living room and dining room
Take clothes to consignment shop

This should definitely keep me busy! What are your to-do's for the weekend? Feel free to link to your own blog below, or just leave a comment about your weekend plans.

Image from getzscope.com

Weekly Cleaning Lists

2010-01-14T09:00:00.000-08:00

I'm to the point where I really need to start busting out some weekly cleaning lists. I've got the basic plan down, and I have daily cleaning tasks, as well as morning, after-work and evening routines. But, truth be told, the real cleaning stuff is going to be in the weekly cleaning lists. The rest of the stuff is just organization and building good habits.

I have NO idea how to go about this.

Someone from the Cleaning & Organizing board on the Nest suggested that you go through each room in the house and write down what needs to be cleaned in that particular room. Then, you can begin to build your cleaning list off of that. I think that's what I'm going to try to do.

I also like the idea of getting inspiration from others. The Hyper Homemaker had a pretty good list, and the Fly Lady's detailed cleaning lists look pretty good too.

It's time for me to hunker down and start creating a plan. Hence, the procrastination and writing yet another blog post.

The Cleaning Ladies Update

2010-01-13T16:07:00.000-08:00

Our cleaning ladies came today, and our house looks marvelous. Normally this would make me happy, but now that I'm trying to eliminate our need for a cleaning ladies, it's a tad depressing. There is no way I can replicate these results.

On a positive note, we barely had to do anything to get the house ready for their visit. Usually we're scrambling around, trying to get everything in order for them. This time, everything was ready to go. I think this is due to the implementation of the daily cleaning routine, morning routine, after-work routine and evening routine.

As the FlyLady would say, "Go me!" Unfortunately, I have a lot further to go. Those cleaning ladies have some mad skills. I have no idea how I'm going to get the floors as clean as they do.

Recent Reads

2010-01-12T07:18:00.000-08:00

I am such a sucker for makeover stories. That's probably why I loved The Overnight Socialite. It's a story about a girl who moves to New York and meets an obnoxious Park Avenue-type who decides to make her into a socialite to help boost his lame career. It's a twist on a story that's been done over and over again, but I loved it!

Now I'm on to Bringing Home the Birkin. I'll post a mini-review when I'm finished, but so far, it's a good read too.

Menu Plan for Week of January 11

2010-01-11T18:47:00.000-08:00

Time is just flying by! We just got back from a trip to Florida where I ran the Disney Half-Marathon. Now it's back to reality, and menu-planning. Here's what I have planned for the week:

Monday - Traveling - had a salad at Panera
Tuesday - Asparagus/Ham Wraps, Sweet Potatoes, Spinach Salad
Wednesday - Salmon, Rice Pilaf, Frozen Veggies (cooked, of course!), Cooked Spinach
Thursday - Red Beans & Rice and Guacamole
Friday - Pork Tenderloin, Brussel Sprouts, Rice Pilaf

Weekly Cleaning Tasks

2010-01-10T08:00:00.000-08:00

Truly, this is what I've been dreading the most. It's finally time to start coming up with a plan for actually cleaning my house. I'm using the Hyper Homemaker's cleaning list as inspiration and choosing to focus on one area of the house every day. Here's my idea so far:

Mondays - One room in the house that needs a good cleaning
Tuesdays - Bedroom
Wednesdays - Living Room/Dining Room
Thursdays - Bathroom
Fridays - Kitchen
Saturdays - Pay Bills/Enter Receipts in Budget Spreadsheet
Sundays - Grocery Shopping/Meal Planning

Gosh, I hope I can do this. More detailed cleaning lists coming soon...

Evening Routine

2010-01-09T08:00:00.000-08:00

So...many...routines. If I can complete this one last routine, things will be organized and tomorrow will be much easier. This is what I plan on doing for my evening routine:

Pack tomorrow's lunch
Shower
Blow Dry Hair
Set out clothes for tomorrow
Brush teeth

If I'm tired after this I'll go to bed. If not, I'll read or watch TV until it's time to go to sleep. It's nice to know that all of my ducks are in a row before I go to bed.

After Work Routine

2010-01-08T08:00:00.000-08:00

This routine is really tough to keep up with. But, if I do, my mornings are much easier. Here's the after work routine:

Bring in mail & sort
Start load of laundry in washer
Exercise for 30 minutes
Daily Cleaning Routine
Weekly Cleaning Tasks (totally TBD, by the way)
Make Dinner
Clean up kitchen after dinner
Fold laundry and put away

After all of this stuff is done, I get to relax for a little bit before beginning my evening routine.

Easy Morning Routine

2010-01-07T08:00:00.000-08:00

Oh, how I had ideas of grandeur for this one. I imagined that I would get up early and go to the gym, shower there and be able to make it to work on time. Ha! That didn't quite happen.

Considering that I couldn't even manage to get up early to go to the gym while I was on break, I decided to scrap that idea and work with reality. The truth is, I'm not a big fan of getting up at the crack of dawn when it's below zero outside. I need to get to work a little bit early, but not that early.

In order for this morning routine to work, I have to do a lot of things the night before. But, if I can be organized the evening before, I can stumble through this routine in a zombie-like state without too many problems:

Wake Up (!)
Brush Teeth/Wash Face
Get Dressed
Do Makeup/Hair
Put one load of laundry in the washer (do not turn on)
Put lunch into work bag
Make green tea
Drive to work
Eat instant oatmeal at work

That's it!

Winter Book Challenge

2010-01-06T08:00:00.000-08:00

I LOVE to read. It's a great way to take my mind off of the day's drama and unwind. Since I got my Kindle, I've been reading even more. Luckily, I found the Nest Book Club, which helped me to find a ton of good books to read in 2009.

The Nest Book Club hosts book challenges each season. You can earn "points" for reading certain types of titles, or doing different things. For instance, I just finished "The Lost Symbol" by Dan Brown. Because it's just a shade longer than 500 pages, I was able to earn 10 points for reading the book. It's all in good fun, and I hope it helps me to read a variety of different books.

I'm still pondering what to read next, but I think I need something a little more on the light side. Any good suggestions out there in cyberspace? I wish I could find a good light read about cleaning to help motivate me to clean this house!

Daily Cleaning Routine

2010-01-05T15:46:00.000-08:00

I think I finally have my Daily Cleaning Routine figured out. It's very simple and easy to do, so it's not been too tough to adjust to. There are a few steps to the routine, so when I'm done with each task, it's nice to check items off the cleaning routine list. It makes me feel like I'm getting somewhere! Here's the routine I've been using:

Make Bed
Spend Two Minutes Cleaning a Hot Spot
Swish & Swipe a Bathroom
Move Laundry from Washer to Dryer
Take Vitamins and Drink Water

Not too tough! There have been a few days where I skipped the Swish & Swipe step because the bathroom just didn't need it. Other than that, I've pretty much stuck to this routine.

Now, I have to work on putting together a good morning routine.

Hyper Homemaker Cleaning List

2010-01-03T12:26:00.000-08:00

This was a cleaning plan that used to be on the Hyper Homemaker website. I'd love to link to the site, but it's been taken down. I'm trying to come up with my own cleaning plan for our house, and I'm planning on using this as inspiration!

The idea behind this plan is that each day of the week, you focus on cleaning one part of your house:
Monday: Outside / Garden
Tuesday: Kitchen
Wednesday: Bathrooms
Thursday: Living areas
Friday: Bedrooms
Saturday: Laundry
Sunday: Off

Below is the weekly cleaning list for what to do each day of the week:

Weekly Cleaning List
Kitchen:
-Mop the floor
-Wipe the cabinets, backsplashes, appliances, and fans
-Wash the dishrack
-Wipe the switchplates and phone
-Wipe the inside of the garbage can

Bathroom:
-Scrub the tub and tiles
-Mop the floor
-Wipe switchplates, doorknobs, and doorjambs
-Empty and wipe out wastebasket

Bedroom:
-Change the sheets
-Dust all surfaces - including electronics, books, pictureframes, window sills, ledges, tops of the door frames, and ceiling fan.
-Vaccuum floors and carpets.
-Wash hardwoods
-Wipe switchplates, doorknobs, and doorjambs
-Wipe and disinfect telephone
-Empty trash
-Vaccuum heaating vents and closets

Living Areas:
-Dust all surfaces - including electronics, books, pictureframes, window sills, ledges, tops of door frames, and ceiling fam.
-Vaccuum floors and rugs
-Wash hardwoods
-Vaccuum upholstery
-Wipe switchplates, doorknobs, and doorjambs
-Wipe and disinfect telephone
-Shake out/vaccuum doormat
-Vaccuum HVAC vents

Rave: Online Stopwatch

2010-01-02T11:32:00.000-08:00

Breaking chores down into small chunks of time helps make icky jobs more bearable. When I'm downstairs, I use my kitchen timer everytime I want to work on a chore for a specific amount of time.

If I'm upstairs, I use the Online Stopwatch website. You can enter your desired amount of time into the "Countdown" portion of the website, and it works just like a kitchen timer. Enjoy!

Daily Cleaning: Take Vitamins & Drink Water

2010-01-01T08:00:00.000-08:00

Okay, not much cleaning of the house going on with this step. I snuck this little step into my daily routine to remind myself that all of this cleaning will actually help improve our health by making our home more peaceful and organized. Plus, when I get dehydrated, I get crabby, and when I get crabby, I tend to boycott things like cleaning routines.

As for the vitamins, this is a personal preference. I like to take my vitamins earlier in the evening if I can, so I won't forget. You can take whatever kind of vitamin floats your boat, or take none at all. But, if you're a newlywed, you might want to start taking prenatal vitamins just in case. Hello, folic acid, heard of it much? If nothing else, it will make your nails nice and strong.

Why am I griping about prenatal vitamins and water? Check out my confession.

Daily Cleaning: Move Laundry from Washer to Dryer

2009-12-31T15:43:00.000-08:00

Laundry is a complete pain. If you let it, it can consume your weekends and make you all stressed out about the prospect of not having any clean underwear. Let the madness end. Come up with a plan to tackle that laundry.

Each day when I get home from work, I plan to put in a load of laundry. Unless there isn't any dirty laundry, but that's not happened yet. If it ever does, it's total gold star time. But anyway, I put the laundry in when I get home from work, and then go off to do other things in my after-work routine.

At some point, the washing machine is going to beep. When I hear that beep, or when I realize that the washer is done washing the clothes, I have to go into the laundry room and switch the laundry from washer to dryer.

This seems very simple, but I forget to do it all the time. In fact, there are a bunch of dirty towels in my washing machine right now. If I let them sit for hours or days on end, which happens a lot, they start to smell and I end up having to wash them all over again.

So, even if I catastrophe strikes and I don't end up folding and putting away the laundry, at least the clothes won't smell if I do this one small thing. And that is an accomplishment in itself.

Okay, I'm going to go move the laundry from the washer to the dryer now. Wonder what's wrong with me? Think I have way too much free time? Check out my confession.

Image from Campus Advantage Greensite.

NYE To-Do List

2009-12-31T09:11:00.000-08:00

I think today is my last real day to get stuff done during vacation. We're going to a NYE party tonight, and tomorrow my husband will be home. I'm hoping we can get some Christmas decorations put away tomorrow. Here's what's on deck for today:

Daily cleaning list
Wipe down baseboards in kitchen
Put away rest of gifts under Christmas tree
Spend 10 minutes organizing closet
Workout for 30 minutes - already done!
Hopefully, take a nap in preparation for a late evening

That's it for today!

Daily Cleaning: Swish & Swipe a Bathroom

2009-12-30T08:00:00.000-08:00

I don't know about you, but our bathrooms can go from clean to nasty in no time at all. This next part of the Daily Cleaning routine also comes from FlyLady. It's called Swish and Swipe.

The Swish & Swipe takes some advanced planning, but it will pay off by helping you stay focused when it comes time to clean. To prepare for the Swish & Swipe, you'll need to gather the following things in your bathroom:

Windex or whatever glass cleaner you use
Paper towels or old rags
A toilet bowl brush
Whatever soap you have around the house. FlyLady suggested using old shampoo that you hate.

Put all of this stuff in your bathroom so it's ready to go.

At some point during the day, you're going to have to go to the bathroom (hopefully!). This is when you'll do your Swish & Swipe. After you've taken care of business, get out your glass cleaner and paper towels. Clean all of the gunk off the mirror. If you need to, wipe down the countertop.

Once that's finished, take that same paper towel, and wipe down your toilet. If you need more paper towels, so be it.

Then, take your toilet bowl brush and soap, and clean the inside of the toilet bowl. FlyLady suggested keeping the toilet brush in an old kitchen canister, and putting whatever soap you decide to use at the bottom of the container. I bought some cheapy toilet bowl brushes that have little containers to put them in, so I will periodically have to refill the containers with soap. Whatever works for you is fine, as long as you have something prepared and ready to use when the time comes.

Give the toilet one last flush, and you're done! Hopefully by doing this periodically, you won't ever have to look at a disgusting toilet.

Ummm..why am I blogging about cleaning toilets? For real? Check out my confession.

Image from treehugger.com

Daily Cleaning: Spend Two Minutes Cleaning a Hot Spot

2009-12-29T15:22:00.000-08:00

Hot Spots. We all have them in our homes. They are those places where stuff seems to accumulate day after day until it's an out-of-control mess. The FlyLady, Marla Cilley, coined the term "Hot Spot" as part of her FlyLady cleaning routine. My hot spots tend to be my desk, where we leave our mail, and the laundry room.

For this part of your daily cleaning routine, pick one of your Hot Spots, and spend just 2 minutes cleaning it. No more, no less. This is focused cleaning, so you're cocentrating on just this one spot. Today I chose to clean our laundry room, and I was able to clear off a good area for folding clothes within that two minutes. Even though I didn't spend that much time cleaning, it was good to see some results!

Why in the world am I blogging about spending two minutes cleaning my laundry room? Check out my confession.

Menu Plan for December 28, 2009

2009-12-28T19:36:00.000-08:00

I'm on vacation this week, so I'm kind of taking things easy. We have a lot of leftover ham, so I'm trying to plan a couple of meals to help us use it up. Since I'll be home all week, I'll also be eating a lot of ham sandwiches for lunch. Here's our menu plan for the week:

Monday - Sushi!
Tuesday - Pasta with ham, peas and mushrooms
Wednesday - Out to eat!
Thursday - Ham, frozen veggies and applesauce
Friday - Tilapia, frozen veggies, rolls

Check out orgjunkie.com for more menu planning ideas!

Today's To-Do

2009-12-28T06:18:00.000-08:00

Ahhh, vacation! I have this week off, so I'm going to try to make the most of it. I'm totally feeling motivated to get stuff done today, largely because my new Bloggy friend Tori left a comment on this blog. I'm not alone in the blogosphere! If you have time, check out her blog - it's totally cute!

Okay, down to business. Here's today's To-Do list:

Finish last four student thank-you notes
Make list of people to send NYE cards to
Address NYE cards
Mail out all of these cards (this MUST be done - no sleep until it's finished)
Daily Cleaning List
Put away five Christmas decorations
Trek to JC Penny's to check out Lee jeans that don't gap in the back. Oh the humanity! I never thought I'd see the day that I'd be excited about Lee jeans. Just check me into the retirement home now. But really, I'm tired of always tugging up my jeans, and people just shouldn't have to see all of that business. It's not right.
Spend 10 minutes on the Wii Fit

Image from getzscope.com

Daily Cleaning: Making the Bed

2009-12-26T14:20:00.000-08:00

Everything looks much more organized and put-together if the bed is made. Making the bed should take about three minutes tops. Even though it's kind of a pain to make your bed every day, it really makes a big impact on what your bedroom looks like.

Because I get up much earlier than my husband, I put this task in my daily cleaning routine, which I do after I get home from work. If I'm lucky, this chore might be done before I get home. But if not, it's a good way to start my daily cleaning routine, because I see big improvements quickly.

Full disclosure: It's after 4 p.m. on a Saturday and my bed is NOT made. The picture shown above is not my actual bed, but it is the bedspreadI have. Mine just never looks that nice.

Wonder why I'm blogging about making my bed? Check out my confession.

Photo from macys.com

To-Do Today and Check-In

2009-12-23T06:45:00.000-08:00

Yesterday's to-do list...did not get done. Here's what I did manage to finish:

Ironed tablecloths - Not really. I don't have an ironing board, so I threw them in the dryer with wet towels and then put them on the tables, hoping they would look ironed. Thank goodness it worked.
Inventoried china. Done. I had to do a lot of unpacking from when we moved, so this took a really long time. Panic ensued when I realized that I only have eleven placesettings and twelve guests coming for Christmas dinner. I made a rushed order for another placesetting (not cheap) from Linens-N-Things. If they deliver before Christmas, I will be writing up a major rave about them. Not holding my breath, though.
Washed china. Done.
Made choclolate-covered pretzels. Ate lots of them. Gained 5 pounds.
Mailed two Christmas cards with enclosed gifts. Done.
While I did all of this, I watched the worst movie. Margot at the Wedding. It's. Just. Awful.

To Do for Today

Buy plane tickets
Go to movies with friend
Package chocolate-covered pretzels.
Go for 30 minute walk
Do all of the cleaning stuff I was supposed to do yesterday

Today's To-Do

2009-12-22T06:51:00.000-08:00

We're hosting Christmas at our house this year, which means I have a lot to do to get ready for company! Here's my to-do list for today:

Iron tablecloths
Set tables with chargers and centerpieces (a TBD DIY project!)
Inventory china
Wash china needed for Christmas dinner
Put up tiny Christmas tree in dining room
Make chocolate covered pretzels
Mail out 2 Christmas cards with gift cards enclosed

And, on the cleaning front, I need to:

Spend 10 minutes de-cluttering office
Try out new granite cleaning mixture!
Sweep kitchen floor
Wipe lightswitch plates with alcohol pads
Shovel front stoop (after the snow stops, or at least slows down)

Image from getzscope.com

A Clean Confession

2009-12-22T06:09:00.000-08:00

Okay, so if you take a good look at this blog, you might notice that I started it last spring, and then just stopped writing. To be truthful, I've started a lot of blogs, and I was very excited about them all. Then, I got bored with them, or they became too much work to maintain.

So, why am I starting this blog back up again, you may ask? Well, I have a confession to make...
I have cleaning ladies. They come to my house every two weeks and do all of my major cleaning for me. I don't really even know how to clean my house at all. If left to my own devices, my house would be covered in piles of dust and filth.

So what? That's what I used to think. Then I started looking at our budget and had a minor freak out about how much money we're spending on the little things - like the cleaning ladies. I did the math, and realized that every year we pay our cleaning lady the equivalent of a little more than one of my paychecks. After realizing that I work a half-a-month every year to pay my cleaning ladies, I decided that it might be worth it for me to do the cleaning myself.

Last week I rented Julie & Julia, and I was so impressed at how Julie Powell cooked her way through an entire cookbook in a year. It made me start to think...if Julie Powell can cook every day for an entire year, surely I can clean my house every day for an entire year. Right?

Because I'm completely chicken, I'm not getting rid of the cleaning ladies just yet. And, I'm not going to tell my husband either. I have A LOT (everything) to learn about cleaning, and I want to have the cleaning ladies there as a safety net in case I completely stink at this. My hope is that by March, I'll be housekeeping well enough to get rid of the cleaning ladies.

So there you have it. That's my confession. I'm a massive primadonna. I do not clean my own house.

Book Rave: Outlander

2009-12-21T08:23:00.000-08:00

Lately I've been trying to watch less TV and read more. I find that reading fiction before I go to sleep helps me stop obsessing about work so I can relax. If you're looking for a good book that will have you hooked for days on end, Outlander by Diana Galbadon is the book for you. However, I can't promise that you will get any more sleep - it actually kept me up until 2 a.m. for two nights in a row. Considering that I'm a person who usually falls asleep at 9:30, this is saying a lot! This book came highly recommended by my friends on the Nest Book Club forum. I'm glad I took their advice and read this book. Next, I'm planning on reading The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown.

Sunday To-Do List

2009-12-20T12:54:00.000-08:00

Okay, seriously. It's time for me to get OFF the internet, and start getting some stuff done. Here's my TO DO list for the rest of the day:

Write 5 thank-you notes (for gifts from students)
Plan shopping trips, including food needed for Christmas dinner
Go shopping at Jewel and CVS
Do weekly menu plan
Catch up on phonecalls
Make dinner
Clean up kitchen after dinner

What's on your to-do list? If you blog about your to-dos, feel free to link to them in the comments below.

Image from http://getzscope.com/

Free $1-off-Coke coupons on RecycleBank

2009-12-20T07:41:00.000-08:00

RecycleBank is offering 100 Rewards Points just for signing up for their Rewards Program. I'm particularly excited about this offer, because you can use rewards points for $1.00-off-any-Coke-product coupons. To sign up for the program, click here and then click on the orange button in the top-left-hand corner. After you sign up, you can immediately claim your rewards. The coupons will be sent to you in the mail.

RecycleBank has also partnered with the Kashless initiative. You can earn more rewards points through RecycleBank through activity on the Kashless website.

Use it Up: Orange Peel Home Fragrance

2009-12-18T13:59:00.000-08:00

Ever wonder what you can do with your orange peels after you've eaten the orange?

If you boil some water and throw the orange peels in with some cinnamon, it smells wonderful! Some people also like to add cloves to the mix. I'm trying this out for the first time today, and it's working out much better than I thought it would.

I've always been able to find inexpensive air freshener by using coupons and shopping at CVS and Walgreens. At this point, I have a surplus of air freshener spray. However, I'm concerned about all of the chemicals I'm using, and I thought that this would be one way to cut back.

Have you tried this inexpensive air freshener idea? How did it work for you?

Photo from: Rosemary Calvert/Getty Images

Welcome to Newlywed Home

2009-03-31T14:37:00.000-07:00

Thank you for visiting my blog. I am working on fixing up my house and learning how to do domestic things like cooking and cleaning. By documenting my progress on Newlywed Home I hope to make myself more accountable and motivated to get things done.

I also LOVE looking at what others have done to decorate. If you'd like to share any of your domestic accomplishments (no matter how small!), please feel free to email me and I'll set up a link to your site or blog.

Thanks again for visiting!