The Buerglers

Last year's Advent was spent in prayerful discernment about my career.  Not really focused on Christ's birth, but it was spent in profound prayer.  It was much needed and very therapeutic. I still received peace as a gift through the season. As we head into Advent today, the phrase "Prepare ye the way of the Lord" has been on my heart.  I have noticed how impulsive I have become with purchases, how blind I have been to distinguish needs and wants, and how lazy I have become with my house keeping. It's time for me to "prepare the way" for Christ to live in us. And this year, that means in my house...literally! I am tired of being embarrassed with drop in company seeing my house look like an F4 just blew by.  I'm tired of making excuses of "it's been a crazy week, sorry for the mess".  And for being too overwhelmed with clutter that I don't even know where to start. For me, right now, this isn't a pride thing. It's a s...

This year for Lent I decided to put my New Year's Resolution of " One Step at a Time " into action: clean and  de-clutter one section of our apartment at a time.   My goal is to get rid of a minimum of one brown paper bag worth of trash or things to donate from each space. Week Four: Closets, Countertops, and Drawers (Oh My!) Goal:  I originally planned to tackle the WHOLE kitchen, but once we got started we realized it needed a lot more work than we bargained for.  We also got a little side tracked with rearranging the living room. I knew what needed the most attention: spice cabinet, drawers, cups/glasses and our beer glass collection. Eric pitched in a lot this week and helped, especially with the tall spaces. How I did it: Would you be surprised if I said I first took everything out of the cabinet??  Good. You're catching on. The cabinets and drawers needed a good wipe down after two years of heavy use...

This year for Lent I decided to put my New Year's Resolution of " One Step at a Time " into action: clean and  de-clutter one section of our apartment at a time.   My goal is to get rid of a minimum of one brown paper bag worth of trash or things to donate from each space. Week Three: The Pantry Goal: We'd been in this apartment for two years at Christmas.  I recently found a jar of peanut butter and thought, "Man, we've had this for ever. I wonder when it expires"  Oddly enough, it was that day.  And then I wondered, how long had we had that peanut butter.  The answer will make you never by commercial peanut butter again (read: since before Eric and I were even engaged). If the peanut butter was that old...what else was hiding in our pantry? I would feel really guilty about the state of our pantry, but we hardly use packaged or canned foods so it's easy to forget what little we have in the there. My goal was to get rid...

This year for Lent I decided to put my New Year's Resolution of " One Step at a Time " into action, and clean and  de-clutter one section of our apartment at a time.   My goal is to get rid of a minimum of one brown paper bag worth of trash or things to donate from each space. Week Two: Kid's Stuff Goal: This project involved a few more pockets of the house than last week. I chose this one second because it was part of Simple Mom's Project Simplify, but also because the situation wasn't "that bad". My mom had just helped us re-do Evie's closet (read: toolbox, office supplies, storage, camping gear, and Evie's stuff). My main goal for this project was to tidy up things that had gotten messy in the last 3-4 months, to pack up anything she's outgrown, to unpack the next stage of stuff, and to return or consign any items she hasn't used or didn't like. I more than exceeded the goal of getting ri...

This year for Lent I decided to put my New Year's Resolution of " One Step at a Time " into action, and clean and de-clutter one section of our apartment at a time.   My goal is to get rid of a minimum of one brown paper bag worth of trash or things to donate from each space. Week One: Laundry Room How I Did It: First I set the timer for 60 minutes.  We had places to be, and I tend to linger while organizing.  And by linger I think I once packed a single moving box in the time my mom packed our entire kitchen. Next, I took everything off the shelves and then into the other room.   Then, I grouped like items.  A buddy system for my stuff, if you will. Next I created "modules" - aka put everything that goes together in the same easy to grab area.  For example, all the ironing supplies go together, all the rags go together, etc.  This is a concept that is so logical, yet I fail to put it into practice in some very obv...