I love a good backstory. Orgin movies are some of my favorites. X-Men: Wolverine and Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith are my favorite origin movies. I quite enjoyed watching Wolverine getting his metal skeleton and Anakin Skywalker FINALLY becoming Darth Vader (Yes... I'm a nerd)
So, I got to thinking. Maybe this blog needed a bit of a backstory. It's not as dramatic as losing ones memory, I assure you.
(Get comfy... grab some popcorn.. and in... 3... 2... 1... )
Dun Dun Dun... Duuuuuuuu dun dun... Dundun dun du... dun dun dun dun duuun dunnnduuuudna
A Long Long Time ago... In a bedroom far far away...
Ok, so it wasn't exactly a long time ago... it was more like 2 months. It was around March 2011 to be exact. My friend, Rachel, who is also a July 10 Mama posted a vlog entitled, "How I organize coupons for EASY in store use." (Here is the link... watch and subscribe to her.. she's awesome! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzpulo11Rvs ).
Anyway, so basically this all started from a coupon post on Youtube. That's right... How random is that? No big revelation (yet)... just watching a youtube video in my messy room... and wanting to save some money.
That video lead me to start couponing. I LOVE it! I'm not an extreme couponer by any means, but I do love to do it. I started looking up Coupon Binders/Notebooks on youtube (because I'm nerdy and boring that way ) and found this... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eQg0AY5eyE&feature=channel_video_title I don't know why I love this video so much... maybe it's her voice, but I do. Its where I first became introduced to term 'Homemaking Binder'.
I'd never heard of one before... but I was intrigued! I should say that I can't remember anything. I used to stress out over bills that I was afraid I'd forget to pay, or something at school for K that I'd forget and she'd be left out. I thought this Binder Idea was all that!
SO, I made myself one...
And have loved it since!
Here is my first post about it... http://ohthatmomagain.blogspot.com/2011/04/home-making-binder-day-1.html
So that binder (which I started for bills and for me to remember) evolved into something that involved a 'cleaning list'.
I didn't clean...
That's a lie..
I DID clean. I didn't live in a pig sty, but I didn't go out of my way to clean.
Here is a backstory to my backstory (A Flashback if you will)... Who was going to clean our house was always a point of argument between me and the hubs. We both work full time so it was hard to figure out who was going to do what. We have had our fair share of spats over who was going to wash the dishes. When I was pregnant with #3, there was a 6 months span when I didn't vacuum (I KNOW!... I'm kinda ashamed about that). So don't get the idea that my house has ever been emaculate. It HASN'T... and don't think that it is now... its MUCH better than it was... like 100x better, but I still have small kids and we still have messes which is ok. I'm not seeking perfection here :) Just tidiness.
The point being... I never put much stalk in cleaning. My sister has already asked "Who are you and what have you done with my sister?" lol and my mother wanted to know what has came over me... because *I* was the kid at home who never dusted under anything because, "No one is going to look under it anyway." (Oh, I'm sure my poor Mama cringed). I'm telling you this to say that I TOTALLY understand not wanting to clean. However, something has changed inside me where I actually LIKE doing it.
Basically after searching and watching numerous youtube videos on homemaking binders, I went to http://www.moneysavingmom.com/ (which is an AWESOME SITE!) and printed off the sheets for the binder. On the sheets, it had chores to do for the day... and I DID like lists so I found myself completing them.
Then I started blogging about it...
And people started commenting...
And that made me want to do more...
And now its just something that I really do enjoy doing. Its part of my routine.
If you are wondering about my husband and what HE does... let me say that since *I've* started cleaning more HE'S started cleaning more. I found him windexing the windows in the laundry room today WITHOUT ME ASKING (*THUD*).
I truly want to inspire you all to do at least one cleaning/organizing thing a day. I hope you join our weekly Quest (Found here... http://ohthatmomagain.blogspot.com/2011/05/heads-up-our-summer-quests.html ). This week's Quest is to organzize your shoes. I'll post about how I did on either Thursday or Friday. (Congratulations to Kathi-Ann for already finishing!!!!)
I guess to sum up... I've always wanted to be more organized, but had no idea how to start. Because of Rachel and her youtube channel (again subcribe!! She has awesome giveaways!), and searching coupon binders, and then homemaking binders, I have found a system that REALLY WORKS for my family and I sincerly SINCERLY hope it does you too.
Much Love
(Let the Credits Roll... )
Kelly