Hi everyone! My name is Meg. I live in Utah (Davis County) with my husband of 11 years and our two boys (6 years and 6 months). I love nature and making things with my hands. Whether it be sewing, knitting, painting (furniture mostly), woodworking... I'm happiest when I'm creating something. We live in a 130 year old pioneer house right now, under 1000 square feet which keeps life interesting. The home is tiny but the yard is nice and roomy and that is where we like to spend our time gardening, raising chickens, and just enjoying this place.
I met Nora a few years ago through her sister Sharon, who is a high school friend of mine. I was going through a rather rough patch in life and Sharon introduced me to her sister (through her blog) because she had been though a very similar experience. What can I say, I believe it's through the hard times in life that some of our greatest blessings unfold. I'm very grateful to Nora for the support and friendship she gave me at that time. However, Nora and I are not just blog friends! I've met Nora a couple of times in person, once when she showed up on my doorstep with yummy eggs from her chickens! I'm really glad that Nora invited me to be part of this and I look forward to getting to know you all throughout the year, because I'm pretty sure it's just Nora and Sharon that are familiar to me.
Now onto the project! My January project isn't a rather exciting one, but super necessary for my sanity. Before I had kids I worked as an administrative assistant at a university and man did I run a mean filing system! I like keep my family files the same way, so we have a filing cabinet for such things. We moved to Utah from Nevada two years ago and honestly... I haven't done much with the files since then. The top of the filing cabinet is supposed to be where my husband can put his work stuff and well... there was nowhere to put anything! I'm a little embarrassed to even show this picture but Nora said we are supposed to be vulnerable right? Here is what my cabinet looked like at the first of the year...
Instead of filing things I was just piling them on top for "when I got to them someday". It was getting out of hand for sure. My main goal for the month was to get the top cleaned off and organized so that my husband could use it for his work stuff instead of dumping out his pockets on the kitchen counter or table. Here is my cabinet now...
The only thing I purchased was the basket from IKEA for $8. I have a spot for lose change, a canister for latex gloves (my husband is a nurse and keeps a pair in his pockets all times at work. I'd rather use them then trash them), and the basket is for all his other stuff. It's been working BEAUTIFULLY and I have my counter space back!
The top drawer is used for papers that I want to file, and the other three are holding office supplies and lots of fabric ;). So I only tackled the top drawer this month. I had to totally re-do most of the files because a lot has happened in the last two years. We've moved to a different state, changed jobs, changed all our utilities, added a new member to our family... so there was a lot of purging and re-labeling.
The shred pile...
I kept things really simple. I recycled the obsolete manila folders by just turning them around and writing on the other side of the tab. I pulled out the old label maker and re-labeled the main heading tabs so that they all look the same. One thing I added was a "shred" folder and a "file" folder in the front of the drawer so that there will be no more pile on the top! If I can't get to filing or shredding items right then, I can put them in the folders for when I have a minute to take care of it.
In all honesty I like being organized, but I don't love organizing. It took me all month to do this because I kept putting it off. There were lots of times when I wanted to move ahead and start working on one of my projects for another month but I kept stopping myself because I knew I was going to have to be accountable on this blog here (thanks Nora!). Some days I would just tell myself I would only have to work on it for 15 minutes so I could just make some progress. But it feels SO GOOD to have this done!
How does that scripture go... mine house is a house of order... and not a house of confusion (D&C 132:8). Baby steps, but this one was a big one in the right direction.
16 comments:
Great idea to create a file for things to file and shred later!
Me again. Just saw your comment to me, thank you so much. That aspect was indeed a big part of my project. You have a beautiful family. Maybe we'll get to rub shoulders sometime in Davis County. :)
Meg, the shred file folder is the best idea! Brilliant. It's the tasks that are unpleasant when I bargain with myself to just put a little time in, or do it first thing in the morning, then I'll "deserve the bowl of ice cream".
I really got to know Meg when I watched, through her blog, battle cancer. And survive she did!
Awesome! That is a huge accomplishment for sure.
I swooned at your organized files!! This will bring you so much happiness when you are in a pinch for that "one document" you need at that exact second and you know exactly where it is!! I am adding a shred folder to my filing cabinet- brilliant!! I'm so happy you jumped on Nora's bandwagon (but who really says no to Nora?) we need to get together the next time I'm in Salt Lake.
Good work and good ideas! Thanks for sharing. We almost bought a 100+ year old home in Farmington 15 years ago..... I love your family picture!
We should totally get together next time you're in town! It was so good to see you at the reunion a few years ago.
Oh interesting! There are lots of really cool old houses around this area. But man it gets cold in the winter when your house is made of adobe and there is no insulation ;). Thanks!
I espcially love the top of the old filing cabinet. Stack of papers is my life! So inspiring!
Beautiful! A house of order is my year long goal! I love your shred folder too!
That looks awesome.
I bought a filing cabinet at the DI two years ago and I STILL haven't filled and organized it yet. This is getting me excited to tackle that project. And so fun that you have a historic home. That has always been a dream of mine. We have lots of historic homes near my neighborhood and I love to go for walks through those neighborhoods.
I <3 organization. You make me want to skip ahead and start organizing now.
I enjoyed your post! I love filing so it was so much fun to see your version. I took notes!
Love the shred folder. I am going to make one! Great idea to put your fabric in a filing cabinet. I think I might try that one too. I have way too much fabric that I never use but think I might use one day. :)
great ideas!
Post a Comment