Personal Archives - Page 18 of 24

Daily, Weekly, & Monthly Cleaning Schedule

April 7, 2014 by Tamara 10 Comments

Cleaning and organizing have never been something that I have been extremely fond of. While I love enjoying the atmosphere of a clean space it has taken me years to be able to figure out a system that worked for me. I have tried cleaning everything in a day which worked for a while but once I had Caden that wasn’t really an option anymore, plus I was just so tired at the end of a cleaning spree that I was a miserable person to be around. I did not want anything to get dirty again for at least 24 hours. My husband loved having a clean house but not having a nagging wife telling him what he could or couldn’t touch, sit on, or use because it had just been cleaned.

For the sake of my sanity I started cleaning a little bit of our home at a time throughout the week. I also made a list of what needed to get done daily in order for me to stay ahead of our chores so I didn’t have a huge list of items to do at one time. I can’t tell you how much this has helped! It took a few months of tweaking to get on a schedule that worked for me and my family but I am happy to say our home is the cleanest and organized it has ever been.

For my cleaning schedule I made a list of the top 5 areas that needed to be cleaned each week in our home. Then I gave myself a 5 day weekly schedule to clean those spaces, leaving two days off for no major area in our home that needed to be cleaned. This means I can adjust the cleaning schedule as needed for my husbands constantly changing work schedule, or if someone gets sick, and for anything else that happens. Also included is a reminder list for household chores that don’t need to be done each week but do need to be done monthly.

I know how difficult it can be to try to keep a clean house and even on somedays finding time to clean. Hopefully our family’s cleaning schedule can give you some inspiration for developing your own system that works for you. Enough talking, here is our schedule…

Want a printable version? ———–> Daily, Weekly, & Monthly Cleaning Schedule

With our baby girl coming soon I know this will be so helpful and a much more effective way for both Josh and myself to keep our house clean. I am going to give myself a few weeks until after the baby comes to get back into this routine again but I know I will be able to manage keeping our house clean using this system. I am also thinking of purchasing a Groupon for a local cleaning service to come and do a one time deep clean of our home right before the baby arrives or possibly after she is here. Has anyone else ever used a cleaning service before? This is not something we could ever afford to do all the time and it is totally not a necessity but I keep thinking it would be nice to come home to a super clean space.

Having a clean home is just another way to get organized and to feel great about yourself. If you are looking for more ways to help organize your home don’t forget to check out my Thirty-One Gifts online shopping party. Last week I shared with you my all time favorite gym bag and how I use it but I also wanted to showcase a two other products today.

Large Utility Tote | City Weekender

I am loving this utility tote and will be purchasing one soon to help organize my car. These are perfect for holding grocery store bags, sports equipment, and toys to take to the playground. The other item I am wanting to get is this oh so cute bag and I just adore the fun color combination. I am thinking this would be great to pack up all the items I will be taking to the hospital for when baby girl is born.

You can shop for yourself or your loved ones until this Thursday! There are so many great Thirty-One Gifts items that can be used to assist you in organizing and keeping your house cutter free. Want to shop my party? Click HERE.

I would love to hear from you how you keep your home clean. Do you use a schedule or just do it all at once?

Filed Under: My Family, Personal Tagged With: Cleaning, Cleaning Schedule, Daily Cleaning, Weekly Cleaning

Whitening Your Teeth Naturally With Activated Charcoal

March 31, 2014 by Tamara 7 Comments

Your smile is a great way to brighten someone’s day and leave a lasting impression. But if your teeth are stained and have lost their luster sometimes smiling is the last thing you want to do. While there are many products available that will whiten your teeth almost all of them contain harsh chemicals. When Crest Whitestrips first came out I was so excited to try them, and while I loved the results that they gave me I wasn’t thrilled that my teeth and gums hurt for several hours after I used them.

If you are tired of putting chemicals into your mouth in order to achieve a whiter smile keep on reading. I am happy to share with you the amazing results I had by using activated charcoal to whiten my teeth. These photo’s have not been edited in anyway to make my teeth appear whiter.

After 7 days of using activated charcoal in combination with hydrogen peroxide for a mouthwash the results were amazing!

WHAT IS ACTIVATED CHARCOAL AND HOW DOES IT WHITEN YOUR TEETH?

Best known for it’s ability to keep poison from being absorb into the body if it is digested, activated charcoal is carbon that has been treated with oxygen. The treatment results in a highly porous charcoal. Activated Charcoal is made by heating coconut shells in the absence of air. The partly burned shells are then granulated to a size that provides for optimum absorption.

Activated charcoal is amazing at whitening teeth because of its adsorption qualities. Yes I did say adsorption, not to be confused with absorption. The perfect example would be drinking a glass of water = absorption vs. spilling a glass of water on your skin = adsorption. Activated charcoal is really good with it’s adsorption of tannins. Tannins are in the food and beverages we consume that stain our teeth (wine, tea,cola, sauces, sweets,etc) and activated charcoal is remarkably efficient and fast at adsorbing them.

It even has the ability to be helpful at adjusting the pH balance in the mouth. This can be helpful for preventing cavities and bad breath. Plus after you brush your teeth with activated charcoal your mouth will feel super clean and you won’t be able to stop running your tongue against your teeth.

HOW TO USE ACTIVATED CHARCOAL TO WHITEN YOUR TEETH

Activated charcoal is very messy! You have been warned. Use with caution when brushing your teeth. It will not stain your teeth or skin but it can be hard to clean up if spilled.

1) Brush and clean your teeth like you would normally.

2) If using activated charcoal from a capsule, twist it open (I like to do this over the garbage can) and place contents inside mouth. Don’t swallow. You can throw away the capsule.

3) Using your tooth brush give your teeth a good scrubbing. Your mouth will be very black. Don’t worry it will wash out. I brushed my teeth for about 1 minute with the charcoal. And because I love you all so much here is what my mouth looked liked each and every time.

4) Get ready for the really messy part now. Have a glass of water nearby that you can rinse your mouth with. This will take several attempts unit the water runs out clean in your sink. Make sure to rinse off your toothbrush as well.

5) Lastly I used hydrogen peroxide to give a final rinse to my mouth and teeth. I figured if I am ditching the typical way most people whiten their teeth I might as well switch up my mouthwash at the same time.

And that is it. Pretty simple and very cost effective. For the activated charcoal capsules and hydrogen peroxide I spent just under $10. I will be able to use both of these products for a very long time before they run out.

THE RESULTS

I think the pictures speak for themselves. I was very impressed with how easy this was and while I don’t think I will be doing this everyday I can see myself doing this at least once a week and maybe more often if I have a special event planned.I was amazed in the difference that only a few days made but I decided to continue on with my experiment for the full week. Again these pictures have not been edited to make my teeth appear whiter.

If you want to try this out for yourself here are the products I used:

Make sure and take pictures too! It is fun to see how much of a difference this made in the appearance of my teeth and how much cleaner they felt after using the activated charcoal.

Do you think you will try this?

Filed Under: Health, Personal, Products Tagged With: Activated Charcoal, Crest Whitestrips, Hydrogen Peroxide, Teeth, Teeth Whitening

I Remembered Why I Fell In Love With My Husband When…

February 5, 2014 by Tamara 5 Comments

I think those of us who have been married for a few years would agree that overtime the routine of life starts to take over and you begin to forget those initial sparks that first flew between you and your spouse. Now don’t get me wrong I totally love Josh. We have been married for 5 years and he is a great husband and an amazing father. But marriage is not a fairy tale. The reality is that the stress from daily life can take a toll on your relationship if you allow it.

I was feeling particularly stressed out this past month with packing and sorting up all our belongings for our move. I was making my way to each area of the house sorting all of our items when I came across a grocery bag that was shoved under our bed. As I began to remove the contents of the bag my heart started to melt and so did all the stress I had been feeling. Inside were dozens and dozens of handwritten love letters from Josh.

For the next 45 minutes I sat on the floor and allowed myself to be flooded with happiness. I read so many sweet words of support, encouragement, and love my husband had written to me over the years.

Reading those cards got me thinking, when was the last time I had actually written or even spoken words of encouragement or kindness to my husband? Gulp.

So if I haven’t already embarrassed my husband by sharing this post here it goes…

Josh,

I want you to know how proud I am of the man you have become and how happy I am to be your wife. I can honestly say that I could not picture my life without you. You are an awesome father and Caden just adores you. I know our daughter will too. The fact that you are already looking forward to taking her to daddy daughter dances just shows how much you already love her. Our kids don’t even know how lucky they are. They have a father who makes it a point to pray over them and their mother each and every night. I am so thankful for you. You have seen me at my worst and cared for when I have been my sickest. I would be lost without your love. You are generous with your time and a wonderful provider for all our needs. Our life together has not been without struggles or challenges but that is what makes where we are today that much sweeter. I love you for now and always.

Your wife, Tamara

It is amazing what words of kindness and affection can do for your relationship. I am so thankful for these sweet love notes from my husband. They reminded me of all the amazing qualities that I love in him how amazing he is. If you haven’t taken the time to tell your husband or anyone else in your life how much they mean to you I want to encourage you to take a few minutes to do so. Send a text, buy a card, or a make a phone call. Maybe even write a blog post yourself. I promise you won’t regret the time you spent.

Filed Under: My Family, Personal Tagged With: Josh, Love Letters, Marriage