LoveLifestyle: April 2012

My Apologies...

Hello everyone... I must give you my sincerest apologies for the lack of post for the last week or so. Remember niece that was pregnant? Well, her water broke last Friday morning at 6:15am. And since this is her first delivery things did not go quickly. I think my sister (the new Grandmother) set the record, within the family, for staying awake with a strong 41 hours. I came in a close second at 36 hours.

So we've been spending a lot time walking in these halls.

And wearing these bracelets.

Visiting someone we are calling the miracle child because the doctors said he would not be here right now. He is not out of the woods, but we are loving every second we get to spend with him.

Now, I think I can return to my regularly schedule program.

Un-Clutter It Thursday #15 - Bills, Bills, Bills

Welcome back for another week of uncluttering madness!

Can I let you in on a secret? You promise not to tell anyone else? Just between us girls? Ok, here it goes... I hate to file. I mean I loathe it. I'd rather reconcile a bank account that hasn't been reconciled since 2008... actually I recently did that for a client so I'm speaking from experience. And yes, I hate it that much.

But I have a question for you. Tell me how someone who hates clutter lets paper pile-up? Oh, let me answer that! She hides it that's how! It's true, I hid a pile of paid bills in my filing box because the thought of filing was too much for me.

Oh the shame! I'm hanging my head very low right now. I can barely look you in the... uh, screen.

Now that I've confessed I must correct the wrong, right.

Last year I started a Home Management Binder and one of the sections was financial, there I kept our check register, budget and bills due. It was working, but I really needed something more comprehensive. I migrated the entire section to its own binder and added a bit more to it.

First I have a monthly calendar, I write the bill name on each due date.

Next is the budget sheet. Kinda self-explanatory.

Then its on to the Finance Checklist. As a bill is paid each month I put a check mark in the column. (Notice the direction of the check mark. People tell me all the time I write them backwards, but I say, they're not backwards to a left-handed person. Duh!) This sheet is from Iheart Organizing.

This sheet is followed by a pocket for the bills waiting to be paid. I have to be honest, most of our bills are electronic now... the whole I hate filing thing is a great motivator to be "green".

Then I have a pocket for receipts that I save. Some are for write-offs at tax time, others are for potential returns.

Next up are the "filling" tabs. Each bill has it's own section and its really easy for me to 3-hole punch and then put it in its section.

That wraps up this binder and I think I may have just solved my filing issues... I'll let you know how it goes.

I'll be handling the whole paper clutter issue for a few weeks as I'm revamping a few of our non-functioning systems at home. Of course I'll be sharing with you along the way!

Last week I never got the party officially going but we've rectified the problem for this week so... let's get ready to PARRR-TAAAAAY!

- Please link up your organizing/un-cluttering post(s) and not just your blog home page.
- Please put a visible link or my party button in your post so others can find it and join in.

- If you're new to The Uncluttered Lifestyle I hope you will become a follower.
- And of course, take some time to visit a few other participants and maybe find some new blogs to enjoy.

The Little Flowers That Could

Happy Monday to you! I hope you had a fabulous weekend!

Some friends of ours have a huge lilac bush in their backyard, you might as well call it a tree, and every year they give me a bouquet of lilacs. Well, this was the weekend for me to pick up my bouquet. Oh, they smell so yummy!

Unfortunately after the pickup, we were delayed in getting them home and into some water. Actually, they sat in the car for a couple of hours while we were visiting with some other friends. When we got back into the car my loving husband looks at me and said, "Babe, it looks like your flowers are on Skid Row." My reply, "Gee, thanks Babe..."

What a travesty!

As you can tell I didn't even make it in the house before I stopped in the laundry/mudroom to show you the Skid Row lilacs.

Through my sobbing, I could hear these lilacs crying out to me, "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can." There was still some umph yet to be revived, so I gave them a fighting chance by...

- Filling a vase with hot tap water

- Cutting 1/2 inch off the bottom of each stem at angle under running water

- Placing all the stems in the hot water

- Sticking the vase full of flowers in a closet for 2 hours

When I took them out of the closet, I put them in fresh cold water and...

I promise, this is the same bouquet.

These are truly the little flowers that could!

Till next time!

I'm linking this to:

Un-Clutter It Thursday #14 - Hiding The Elfa In the Room

It's that time again... time to show what we've been un-cluttering/organizing for the week.

This week I addressed the Elfa in the room. Remember a few weeks ago Mr. UL found this awesome Elfa storage system on the side of the road.

It offered so much storage I knew I wanted to use it in the living room, so this week I came up with a way to cover it. Do you see it peeking out in the corner over there?

Yes, this is how I hid the Elfa in the room. I stained a piece of birch plywood Dark Walnut from Minwax and sewed a white canvas skirt.

You simply lift the skirt to reveal some of our go-to items.

Top Drawer: Mya's Grooming Tools. Most of the time I brush her while watching TV, might as well have what I need close at hand. Second Drawer: Spiritual DVD's and music box. I should probably make a binder for them too.

Third and fourth drawers: Extra blankets and pillows. Lots of naps are taken on our couch. We love naps in this house. :)

One last thing... the edge of the top is actually ribbon hot glued on. I love the fact that it blends right in and looks like wood.

So what have you done this week?