Resolutions! Day 1.

It's the most wonderful time of the year! For me, at least. I LOVE a new year! So full of promise, excitement, planning, growth, optimism. This is going to be the first time I blog about my resolutions, so wish me luck! Hopefully I'll have a little sense of accountability because my progress is going to be published :)

I sat down with a notepad and had a conversation with myself about what I really want to achieve this year. For my personal life, my number one goal is to buy our first home (gulp!). So what to do in the meantime? PREPARE! That will be my motto for the year. In the past I've had mottoes that are more vague, but this year I'm getting specific. It's still abstract enough that I'll be able to adapt it to various situations, but in this case I'm going to keep my eye on the goal of getting our clutter under control and having our 2-bedroom apartment of stuff streamlined for a quick and easy move when it's time to take ownership of our new home.

With that in mind, I first did a mental walk-through of our apartment and wrote down a list of all the areas that need to be de-cluttered. Then I went to a trusted adviser, the FlyLady, and checked out her ideas for a smooth move (no pun intended!) as well as getting back on track with her monthly habit, weekly zones, and daily missions - as well as the morning and evening routines. After that, I happened upon some of my favorite blogs' resolutions and got inspired by this one. Luckily my living room was already picked up for our New Year party so I was able to spend more time on my list, and came up with a plan for the first two days (baby steps!).

FlyLady's habit of the month: Shine Your Sink

My Shiny Sink, Day 1

FlyLady's Zone Mission: Shoes, Jackets and Mail from the entryway. I took this opportunity to purge some shoes and clothes from my entryway and closet to donate to my womens' group and a shoe drive we're running this season through Soles for Souls.

Trash/Treasure :)

Shoe zone is looking better!

My get-ready-to-move list item: Clean out old condiments from the fridge. Yuck! Believe it or not, this is the most space we've had on the top shelf in MONTHS! And I showed Mr. B where his new stash of jelly is, since I found 3 partial jars and 3 new jars scattered around the fridge (whew!).

Top Shelf - space again!

The jelly stash on the top right.

I'm optimistic about my preparations, with the idea that our new house will come up on the market when we're ready to move. So I'm doing my part to be ready! Here's to a great 2013!

Happy New Year!
Annette