When I was engaged to my husband I was still living with my parents. One day my mom showed my fiance my room and told him, "this is Jamie and she isn't going to change." I married a military guy who likes his life "dress, right, dress." (Military term where everything is in order.) Early on in our marriage it was definitely apparent that I was not a neat freak. My side of the room always had piles of books, papers, clothes and my husband's side was always spotless.
I have lived in a life of clutter and piles. I have struggled keeping my home clutter free and keeping a cleaning schedule. Before the birth of my fourth child I discovered "Flylady." Her website has daily cleaning missions and schedules plus ways to de-clutter you life. Her ideas helped me find a way to take control of my home again. It is amazing what you can accomplish in just ten minutes.
A few years ago we placed our Virginia home on the market and during that process I became a little obsessed with keeping a show ready home. I found I really enjoyed deep cleaning or as I say "toothbrush clean." The type of cleaning where you get a toothbrush into the small crevices and really clean. My kids were not a fan of their mom at that time. I am not sure if I was a fan of me either. Why can't I keep my house that clean when I am not trying to sell my home. I have tried making a cleaning schedule but that never really worked for me. I needed to find a happy medium between a life of clutter and a crazy cleaning woman.
Jump forward a few more years and we find ourselves putting yet another home on the market and I find myself having a show ready home once again. During this process I have suffered from a spinal injury and could only do one project a day and would have to lay down for awhile to recover. I wasn't as obsessed this time with my home as I was with our Virginia home. This time I found joy in the projects and the cleaning. Every day I gave myself a new project to do. With every project I found happiness in what I accomplished. I started organizing and cleaning every part of my home. For years I have had a Pinterest board of organizing my home and I have slowly implemented some of the ideas that I found.
I decided to start this blog to talk about all the ways I have started de-cluttering my home and found joy in cleaning. I am not a cleaning expert nor do I have amazing secret cleaning tips. I am a mom of four teenagers who loves being a mom and I believe a home should be a place that is lived in. I would much rather play with my kids than clean my house. On the other hand, I love the spirit in my home when it is clean and picked up. I know there is a happy medium between the two.
Do I still have piles and some clutter, of course!! Do I still live in a home where we have Nerf gun wars with darts everywhere, absolutely!! I am finding I can have a home where a kid can be a kid but also be a place where our family can feel the Spirit.
