Purge and Clean - Kitchen Edition

So I'd gone through my kitchen and purged some stuff back before Santi was born (I guess they'd call that nesting?) but things still accumulate, especially after having a baby. We had new machines added (bottle warmer, baby food mill), and other new things popping up in the cabinets (first bottles, then sippy cups, kid plates and bowls, etc.)

So a good cleaning needed to be done (pulling things out of cabinets and drawers, wiping down the insides, reorganizing, etc.) and some things needed to be purged or moved to a new place.

Here's the whole room before:

This cabinet was my nightmare. Things just kept getting added to it, without other things being removed. You can see a crockpot (rarely used), rice cooker (rarely used), food processer, waffle iron, sandwich maker (hadn't been used in over a year until recently when we discovered Santi loves grilled cheese sandwiches), storage containers, blender (rarely used), baby food travel containers and water bottles. Ugh.

This is partially our cabinet and partially Santi's. I used to use this cabinet and the one below (which is next to it) for food storage, but it was awkward because it was across from the fridge, stove, etc and didn't flow well. So now it hosts our dishes and Santi's food and some of his dishes/sippy cups.

Spice/baking supply cabinet - yes, we need a house...with a pantry.

Cabinet above the stove - cookbook storage and mug storage

Gadget/catch-all drawer (sorry for the sideways photo!)

Food cabinet

So, I started with the worst cabinet. I pulled everything out to see if it belonged there, or if we needed/wanted it.

I decided to keep everything, even though I was going back and forth about the rice cooker. I hadn't used it in awhile, but thought that might be because we couldn't access it easily. So I put it back in the cabinet, with the rule that if I didn't use it within a few months then it would go.

All organized! I can actually see what I want!

Free space = good!

I moved the shelf up so I could fit all of the cookbooks standing up (I have no idea why I'd never done this before) and took the pitchers we had in the above the fridge cabinet (the one that no one ever goes into, so it's a pain to have anything stored there!) and put them where we can reach them and use them!

Above the fridge cabinet. We don't make a lot of baby food for Santi anymore so the ice cube trays will stay up here for the time being. The other storage containers are only used for fresh fruit (they're specifically for fresh fruit in the fridge because they aerate the food) so they're not used all the time. I also have our lobster pot up there (only been used a few times but necessary as a Maine girl to have one!) and we keep extra vases up here too (there were about 4 more that are currently being washed so they're not in the photo.)

 Not the best, but better. And yes, we need a pantry!

Added a small bowl to hold twist ties and rubber bands

So things are still pretty packed, but we use it all, and it's organized in the best way possible for us. Sometimes even just a little organization helps!

Purging

I don't know about you, but I have a ton of magazines around the house. You know those ones - you pick them up and save them in an attempt to one day make the recipes out of them, or read that article, etc. And then, months later, they're still sitting there, taking up space, and most importantly, not being read? Yeah, I had a bunch sitting on my nightstand. So I decided to tackle them all one day while Santi was napping.

The stack - I'm going in!

I went through each magazine, and when I found a recipe I liked, or an article I wanted to read, I just tore it out. I made separate piles for each type (articles in one, recipes in another, tips in another...)

After I was done dividing and conquering, I was left with a huge stack of magazines that I brought to the recycling bin. And then I got to work on the things I ripped out. I divided the recipes into type and put them into my recipe binder (to be copied down onto the recipe cards later) and then set to work on the articles. I paper clipped them together if needed, and then put all of the articles and tips into a flexible folder with tabs labeled with each article type (diet, tips, etc.)

And now I'm happy to say I have a huge empty space next to my bed now and my articles are nicely organized in my flexible folder. My rule is that if I haven't read them in a month, I will recycle them as well.

Santi's not a fan...

Santi's not a fan of the Mickey Mouse Club theme song. He has this little tricycle that he got from his grandparents in Peru back when he was 4 months old. I put it together today and put him on it and pushed the buttons...

Kisses from Santi and more

Santi blowing kisses




Santi's Easter basket




Santi's new dance

How I'm feeling...

So I've been working out solidly for about 7 weeks now. The original goal was to lose some weight, tone up and just generally feel better. The other goal was to look good since I'm headed home to see family for the first time since having Santi a year ago. Let's face it, that was the primary goal. The other stuff is secondary.

So I started going to Stroller Strides back at the beginning of March, and have been going consistently about 4 days a week. Recently, I've amped it up and have been going 5 days a week. Each class is an hour long and there are strength training exercises with resistance bands, squats, cardio bursts and ab work. In between each station where we do this, there is either "walking with intent" or running. I've chosen to run each time usually. And I've also been participating in Running Club, with the goal of running my second 10k on Mother's Day.

At this point, I've maybe lost 5lbs. But I feel fantastic. I'm definitely noticing changes in my body, such as tighter abs, definition in my upper abs, tons of definition in my thighs and calves, and more defined arms and shoulders. My clothes are fitting better, and are looser. I have more stamina when it comes to working out (I did Zumba the other night with Tito and while I'm usually winded after doing a Zumba DVD, I was feeling really good at the end of it and not really tired at all.) And I ran 6.5 miles on Saturday (we were scheduled to run 6 miles in training for the 10k, but I did a bit more) and the whole time, in addition to singing along to my playlist on my Ipod, I kept thinking how proud I was of myself. And I was in amazement of my body.

To think that a year ago, I was recovering from a c-section and second major surgery to repair a bleeding artery, and that 5 months after that, I was in the hospital, having had my 3rd heart attack (albeit a teeny tiny one like the other two!) It's amazing that I'm working out every day. It's amazing that I'm running a 10k and basically did that on Saturday. It's amazing that I'm thinking about possibly running a half marathon (13 miles) this summer. Our bodies are amazing in their ability to recover from trauma, and not remember the pain that we have gone through. And to put them through more pain through working out and running!

So what are YOU doing to work out and make yourself feel better? Because really, that's all that it's about - not a number on the scale (which is just a number.) It's not what the scale says,  but how you feel about yourself. Spring is here, so let's get moving!

You know you live in the Pacific NW...

When you look out on a rainy (and not just drizzling, but RAINY) Monday morning, and the maintenance crew are busy mowing the lawn. The mow every Monday rain or shine - the poor guys have to be out there for hours at a time, but they have these great full rain outfits that they wear. Still, I can't help thinking they're miserable out there...especially when I'm watching them all warm and cozy in my house!

Cleaning out and organizing

So the first rooms I decided to conquer were the bathrooms, because 1. they're the smallest rooms, and 2. they were the easiest. It was a way to ease into the purging and organizing.

First up was the master bathroom. Here are some before photos:

And here's the after, after purging some products that were expired, bottles that were basically empty, some hair accessories that I never wear, and organizing like items together:

Then I moved to the guest bathroom. This was much easier since it's Santi's bathroom and all he has are some bath toys, towels and teeny tiny facecloths. Other than that it's a hodge podge area of some medications, cleaning supplies, extra toilet paper and cat stuff since the litter box is in there. Here are the before photos:

And after only about 20 minutes, here are the after photos:

I was able to switch out a stand I'd had in the bedroom for the wire shelf in this bathroom. I put the wire stand in the master bathroom for storage. And I was able to free up space (since it is a guest bathroom, guests can put their things in there when they visit if they want) and allow for some breathing space.

I'm so happy with these two rooms! I'm sick today so there is no organizing happening, but tomorrow the plan is to tackle the hall closet and office area.

What have you been doing for spring cleaning?