closet clean out

One of my favorite bloggers, Ashley at Our Little Apartment, is working on cleaning out her closets this month. She inspired me, and I'm sure many others, to clean up around the house.

Since I had today off, I started last night with the one linen closet we have.  Here is what it looked like before...

Pretty much a mess.  There were plenty of things that I didn't even know I had anymore and lots of things that I just don't need.  I realized that I have way to many sets of sheets for only one bed, and more towels than Ben and I could ever use in a month without doing any laundry.  I also apparently hoard liquid bath soap because I had 7 bottles of it for myself and 2 bottles for Ben.

I pretty much went shelf by shelf and decided what I was going to keep, what I was going to put somewhere else, what I was going to donate, and what was just plain garbage.  Here is what came out...

Oh yeah, I also had an empty curling iron box, a broken hair straightener, and a set of twin sheets that don't fit our bed.  There were also some old lotions that had glitter in them and why I had them I really have no idea.  A few things were thrown away but in the process I am donating two bags of towels and sheets to Purple Heart tomorrow.  This was another motivation for me.  Purple Heart is stopping at my house tomorrow to pick up any donations we had and now we have two bags to give!

Here is the finished, clean, organized closet...

I did go to Target and purchase three 6 quart clear containers to organize medicines, everyday things, and nail polishes and misc. items.  I can't believe how much room is actually in this closet.  It is so nice to see the back of it and to even see the floor.

Now, the hardest part is keeping it this clean.  That is the real challenge for me, so my goal is to keep this clean and once I can accomplish that, it's on to more closets!

Thanks for the inspiration Ashley!

how do you break up with your hair dresser?

courtesy of planetgreen.com

I love my hair dresser.  She is fun to talk to, knows lots about me, and I've been going to see her for 4 years.  We have lots to talk about for the 2 1/2 hours that I am with her every 9-10 weeks, and she knows exactly how I like my hair done.

However, her salon is 45 minutes away.  Which makes a 2 1/2 hour hair cut and highlight take 4 total hours out of my day.  That's a ton of time.  And it puts a big $150 hole in my pocket.

I am going to see her next Wednesday and I know I will be happy with her work.  The problem is, I really don't want to keep driving out there and paying that much for a hair cut.

What do you do?  How do you break up with your hair girl?  Where do you find a new one?  Am I really over paying or is that what other salons charge too?  This is stressing me out!

I know I will just end up continuing to go see her because I will feel horrible if I don't and then I won't have to spend time trying to find someone new.  Basically I'm stuck.

Any advice is welcome.  Who is your hair girl or guy?  What is their fee?  Am I crazy?  (okay, don't answer that last question)

because everyone else is doing it

I finally joined the rest of the world and joined Twitter.

I'm still pretty unsure of how all of it works and what I'm supposed to do or say.  It seems like everyone else is so clever and has something funny or important, or at least not completely boring to say.

Me?  I don't have much but I just gave in to the peer pressure and decided I would try my best to be creative.  So far I have 2 tweets and a few followers, so I guess I'm not doing that bad.

P.S. work started today and I'm already overwhelmed.  My to do list barely has anything on it and I still feel like I will never get all of it done.  I know, crazy, but that's just how it is probably will always be.

Find me on twitter @rachc731

If you find the need to follow me and see all of the exciting (ha!) things I'm doing.

being a grown up

There are many great things about being a grown up.

• Not having to live with your parents anymore
• Making your own rules
• Being legal drinking age
• No curfew!
• Paychecks
• Only cleaning when you want to
• Not having to eat your veggies and always drink milk for dinner

 There are also some not so great things about being a grown up.  I have come to this conclusion before today but it was reinforced after spending over 4 hours on the phone trying to get a better home insurance quote.

• Having to take care of everything
• Not living with your parents :(
• Cutting the grass, not because your parents are making you but because you don't want your yard looking hideous
• Making phone calls about all the bills
• Paying the bills
• Always cleaning, all the rooms in the house always need cleaning
• Water in the basement

I love my house and couldn't be happier with all the wonderful things I have.  I really have no real complaints, and most days I enjoy being a grown up and all that it has to offer.

But come on, who doesn't wish every once in awhile that they were just a 10 year old kid enjoying the summer and looking forward to getting new supplies before school started?

On a side note, I stumbled upon this video while on this blog.  Check them both out.

decisions

Unlike some people, I have a hard time making a decision.

It takes me forever to decide on anything that is big or important.  A new car, furniture, computer, paint color for a room, and I'm sure plenty other things that should be quick easy decisions have all been tough, long drawn out choices for me to make.

The newest decision is what new phone should I choose.  I have the chance to upgrade from the slowest phone that ever existed to anything I want.  Now, when first got this Blackberry I will say that I was in love with it and it was pretty darn great, at the time.  It no longer lives up to the hype and I am beyond frustrated with it.

I've been looking at the iPhone and the Droid Incredible 2.  I went to Verizon with my mom for about an hour and a half and talked to a super nice sales rep who told me everything there was to know about both phones.  I proceeded to tell her I needed some time but thanks for all the help.  I spent the week checking reviews out on the internet and asking anyone I knew what they thought.

The basic feedback was "I love my Droid!" or "I love my iPhone!"  Depending on what everyone had determined what they like.  And both are well liked.  This did not help me at all.

Today I went back to the store with Ben and spent another hour talking to the same sales lady and another guy that was there to help out and I still was not sure which to choose.  I finally decided that the Droid was the way to go.  It had all the talking features that sounded so cool and free music to download.  The Incredible 2 even had the same front facing camera. 

We were all excited because the decision had finally been made.  She went into the back to grab the phone and accessories to get me checked out and...yep, they were completely out of stock!  Are you kidding me?  Is this a sign???

I decided that I was not going to change my decision so I went home and have every intention to go back up on Wednesday to pick up my new phone.  Let's hope nothing changes before then!