Goal One: Organization

It's a new year and for most of us, that means new resolutions and a fresh start.

I'm not quite ready to sift through my thoughts in terms of resolutions, but I will share one:

Be more organized.

I struggle, at times, to stay organized.  I have the best intentions, but follow through can be tricky.  I'm working on it!

But, I've already made a few significant gains in this area!

First, I bought a {new calendar} and put all the crucial dates on it (math trainings, days off, our wedding, and so forth). 

More importantly, I showed B where it is (same place as last year) and asked him to write his extra commitments on it instead of just telling me.  I also made sure pens are nearby, so there's no excuse!

There were lots of cute options, but I went with the cheapest and smallest...still fun! I'm trying to be considerate of his feelings and not have polka dots on everything we own...

I think part of my struggle with calendars and planners is which option to go with.  It seems silly, but it's a debate in my mind each year if I want to organize my life from January to December or August to July.  I think I've finally settled on January through December for the house, and August to July for my school calendar.  I always tend to fall in love with new planners in January, but I'm not going to get a new one for half of a school year.

Teacher problems, people!

Also, I realized my gift wrapping containers were getting a little full, which brings me to my second area of organization: the guest bedroom.

See, I save gift bags and reuse them.  I stock up on gift bags and wrapping paper after the holidays when it's on sale.  I'm also not ashamed to snag cute bags when they're on sale, because I hate spending full price on wrapping supplies.

So, yesterday I bought this gem at Target (save $5 when you spend $25!)

...and used it to organize my gift wrapping supplies this morning.  The top drawer has gift labels (which I love finding cute options in the Dollar Spot), the middle is assorted tissue paper, and the bottom is for bags and gift boxes.  

The whole project took about ten minutes, but I feel so much better now!

Task three: the fridge

After returning from vacation, we threw away left overs and half-used jars (mostly sauces).  I looked up new crockpot recipes on pinterest, made a grocery list, and we went shopping.  We're trying to eat healthier and try new foods (more on those resolutions later), so this was the first step.

Our fridge is not packed full of food.  There is what we plan to eat for the next few days and lots of fresh fruits (bananas, pineapple) and veggies.  We stocked our freezer and pantry, but the fridge will be about half full.  We want to do a better job at making sure we eat what we buy.

I'll spend the next few days slowly putting Christmas and winter decorations away.  I'll tidy up the house as I go.  My desk at work is a little scary when I think about it, but that's a Monday morning problem!

I'm excited to start the year organized!  

What are some of your new years resolutions?