Goodbye January, Hello February!

Where has the month of January gone? With several birthdays in our family, and our baby's latest achievement of crawling which requires extra diligence on my part, plus a last minute weekend getaway for our family, the month has passed by too quickly! As someone born in January, I love the month and all that comes with it - long winter days, new resolutions and beginnings, and a new year with a clean slate.

When I was pregnant with my second child, I was working full-time for a government agency with 10 hour shifts, and all day long I would dream about quitting my job and having so much time to do organize everything around the house that I wanted. Well, I did quit my job when my daughter was born, but I had to learn the hard way that the more kids you have, the busier you become! I'm still busier than ever after having yet another baby last year (yes, 2 babies in 2 years!), but now that I came up an organizing system to organize I know I can finally accomplish all the things around the house that have bugged me for years!

In December I came up with an idea. I call it "30 day projects". Each month I choose a theme and center a weekly organization project around the theme. January's theme was cooking. I have wanted to better organize my recipes, food storage and all around kitchen organization for at least 2 years. I also knew that if I was better organized in the kitchen it would translate to more good-for-you home cooked meals instead of the bad routine we had fallen into of going out to eat (have you tried eating out with 2 kids under age 2? It is more frustrating than relaxing, that's for sure!). I did work on some of my project, but haven't realized it fully so I'm making it my February project as well.

So for February, my theme is cooking and my weekly goals are:
Week 1: Recipes! Organize a system for quick & easy menu planning.
Week 2: Food storage! Inventory items I have on hand and items to purchase and store.
Week 3: Kitchen clean and organize!
Week 4: Develop grocery budget!



I'm a big believer in writing and posting your goals where they can be seen. For me, I have found that just writing goals down help me to accomplish them. So I'm posting my weekly goals on my chalkboard above my computer desk. I got my chalkboard for cheap at Downeast Outfitters, but you could also find a cheap framed canvas and paint it with chalkboard paint as shown here from the blog My Sister's Suitcase.

More updates to come as weekly projects are completed!
Kelly