Before and After

One of the perks of being a teacher is getting a Christmas break. Honestly, I'm not sure how I would get all my shopping done without it! Teachers certainly deserve a break this time of year and I'll say that my favorite part so far is just not standing on my feet all day long and talking. I often get tired of my own voice. But I will say that with just being two days out of school on break, it has made me more aware of how much I love just being around the kids, other teachers and being productive.

Speaking of being productive, I have declared that these few days leading up to Christmas would be "organize and clean your house" days. When we moved in our place back in August, we just unpacked and quickly put things in their place without much thinking. There was no organizing or much decor thought. You see, not only was I unpacking my house, I was unpacking my school stuff and gearing up for my job. So finally I am having time to make this house feel more like a home and organize stuff.

I can't believe I'm about to show you this but this is real life of our closet under our stairs. My mom and mother in law are going to gasp! But hey, check out the after shot moms, aren't you proud!!!

It only took me about an hour to get it all organized. I basically took EVERYTHING out except Todd's drums which were tucked away so nicely back behind the corner. This made me a little sad since that is favorite hobby/best talent and he hasn't got to play them in over 5 months.

After taking everything out, I then placed everything in piles:

• Donate
• Tools
• Seasonal Decor
• Crafts
• Misc.

Then I took the piles and organized them even more. I got a little crazy with the tools and labeled everything! Finding tools and nails has always been so difficult so now I'm hoping my new system will make home projects less stressful. The best part of cleaning the closet out was finding some great decor I've bought along the way that somehow got shoved in the closet. I feel like I went "shopping" in my own house because I found so many great items that I forgot I had. 

On my list today is cleaning out the laundry room and hanging some new curtains. Also, since so many of our closest friends live far away and can't visit, I promise I'm finally going to get around to posting pics of our house. Plus, see that red box from above? Can't wait to show you what came inside it!! 

Anybody else feel inspired this time of year to clean and get organized? Christmas can be such a busy time of year but I try every year to keep it simple, remembering the true reason for the season. Part of that is the de-cluttering around the house in order to enter this season with a mind of simplicity. Hope you all are feeling stress free and truly enjoying this special time of year.

-S

Do you Scentsy?

We do! Actually, we just started about a week ago but I'm very impressed. Are you clueless as to what I'm saying? Scenty is a company that sells ceramic warmers which are heated by a bulb that melts smelly good wax. I've used similar products before that required tea light candles. The best difference is you don't have to every worry about leaving a candle on/replacing the tea light every single time. Plus I feel that Scentsy puts off more smell throughout your home. I'm a new fan if you can't tell.

The products are sold through reps similar to how Thirty-one or Pampered Chef do things. A teacher at my school sells them and for an entire week she had one on in the teachers lounge. That is pretty much how I got sold on the product. It just smelled SO good, all day long.

I've also heard Katie Bower over at Bower Power talk about them before and I trust her opinion. This is where my husband thinks I'm crazy for having "blog friends" that I've never met yet I trust. Anyway, it's not too late to find a consultant near you and grab some last minute gifts. Check out the Scentsy website by clicking here! Currently we have the mid size warmer since the downstairs to our townhouse isn't very large. I'm thinking I'll go for the plug in warmer next! They have other creative and great products to make anything smell good. I sound like I work for Scentsy...hmm maybe I should?!?

If you do Scentsy, what is your favorite scents???

Merry Wednesday!

-S

Monthly Recap

Not sure if anyone is even following our blog anymore since I've been a slacker but in case there are a few faithful readers, I thought I'd swing by to say hello.

We had a great Thanksgiving here in Charlotte. We feel incredibly blessed to be living so closely to both of our families. We divided up our time between each family and we wouldn't have it any other way. The day after Thanksgiving we had a family birthday party for our nieces, Penelope and Adeline. Todd's mom did a great job of hosting a princess theme.

In work news, I've been teaching my 1st and 2nd graders what a call number is. I figured it's never too young to start training them in some useful library skills and to my surprise...they actually understood it! I'm very proud of them especially now that they are starting to find their own books and shelve their incoming books on a temporary cart under the right section (Easy, Fiction or Nonfiction). Plus I've been working with 3rd-5th on the Dewey Decimal System and it thrills me to see them checking out nonfiction books that they didn't realize our library had.

Todd is working hard at Elevation Church and loving it! He works on editing videos and compiles the final edit that is sent to the local news networks that feature a 30 minute segment each week of Elevation. Together, we are starting to build community with other couples and fellow coworkers through an egroup, staff events and volunteering. The Lord is certainly at work in our city and ourselves. The best is yet to come! 

I can't believe Christmas is right around the corner! I figured I'd show a few pics of how we have decorated our house (mainly for us because this blog will be fun to look back on in a few years and reminisce). So far this is the only photo I've taken...

My mom gave me the simple green wreath and I added the burlap bow, berries and glitter picks. It's pretty simple and really inexpensive. Two things I am all about! More pics of the inside to follow soon! 

Now, did you think I was about to end this post without a picture or video of our baby Maggie? Todd's mom taught her a cool trick called "up bang" and I tried to capture a video of it for you all to see. Ignore my stern southern voice ;) 

Happy Monday!

-Sara