This and That

Happy Wednesday!!! I just have a little of this and a little of that for your Wednesday morning mainly having to do with many different routines and systems around here... 

Yesterday I posted about Jane's sweet little new room, and it's been such a blessing around here, but it's made the past few months a bit crazy as well... This week, I just have a few random assortments of thoughts to share as we are half-way through our week over here... 

Goodness...it feels crazy because we didn't have any major home renovations done this spring, but uprooting five closets and an entire room in the midst of rearranging our upstairs can apparently take a toll on you... add in repainting two closets, our bathroom, and an entire room plus an accent wall all the while making the most of the days with Jane, traveling, hosting, and this little one on the way, some of our routines have slipped off the grid for a little while... And it's definitely made a difference. 

When we finally got everything put back together, I knew it was time for lots of other things to be put back in order too, including many of our just daily rhythms. And I think we can honestly say we didn't realize how much of a difference a lot of those make throughout our days... So we are over here making the most of this week and breathing in a little deeper each night before we go to sleep... Here are just a few of what's already made a difference... 

Whenever routines start to slide around here, our grocery system is one of the first to go... We love grocery pick-up so much, and it's so convenient when we have a meal plan, order groceries to line up, and have what we need for the week. But the past few months, our meal plan and grocery pick-up has been lacking...  Which leads to another thing that gets put on the back-burner when we don't pick up our groceries - cleaning out the fridge. I love cleaning it out when we are restocking. It's easy and simple and a routine that is just engrained now. I wipe down the shelves, clean out the drawers, compost any fruits or vegetables that have gone bad and start fresh for the week. 

This past week, I picked up our groceries again and did a major fridge clean out, and I had no idea how much of a different it would make. I think I've said, "I'm so glad the fridge is clean!" maybe 20 times this past week 😂 It just helps you take a deep breath every time we open it, which is quite often around here... 

Along the same thought as the fridge...and I think I've mentioned this before, but I really love a cleaned-out car. My usual routine is to try to bring everything in right when we get home that way the next time I get in, it's tidied and ready for another day full of errands and adventures. But recently, for some reason, that hasn't been happening as much and things have been piling up, add about a million returns in the back, a random assortment of Jane's things, and too many crumbs to even count and you have a car that desperately needed a good clean-out. 

So after our road trip to Birmingham this weekend, the entire car underwent a little makeover, and it couldn't make me breathe deeper. Jane's carseat got a much-needed deep clean, the seats wiped down, dust dusted off the dashboard, floors were vacuumed and the trunk and backseat were emptied minus our remaining few returns on my list this week. It just feels a little lighter now when I get into the car, and although it's a small thing, I realized it can easily feel like a big thing. Running little errands this week has been just a little more refreshing!! 

The car clean-out really brings me to this next topic though....returns. My goodness. Ever since our little upstairs remodel, we have had a pile of returns that has just continued to grow. I don't often make too many purchases, but when I do, I'm pretty notorious for buying something and as soon as I get home, realizing I don't really need it and to the return pile it goes. Especially for Jane's room - I had so many different ideas and thoughts and when I went to put her room together, I realized I didn't need as much "stuff" as I thought I would, so Jane and I have been chipping away at our return pile this week, and we have one more errand today and our trunk will *hopefully* be completely empty for the foreseeable future, which I am so thankful for!! 

Pierce always shakes his head, but for many years now, I always say I'm "making us money" when I go to to make a return. I know that *technically* it's money that we already spent, but it definitely feels like you're making money when it gets put back into your account 😂 

This is a reoccurring topic on here I know, but ever since Jane was little and I started my "one load" every morning, my mindset on laundry has totally shifted. I have baskets upstairs that hold our different loads, and in the morning, I just simply bring one down while I'm making breakfast or playing with Jane, start it, switch it to the dryer (or should I say Jane "switches it to the dryer" for me 😉) before we run an errand, and I fold it either after tutoring or before I go to sleep while catching up with Pierce. For some reason, it just works really well. It doesn't feel daunting or overwhelming and has just become a natural rhythm around here... 

But add in the craziness of the past several weeks and that rhythm has been harder to maintain, so I told myself this was my week to get back to my load a day life, and it's already making a difference. Once the load is in and going, I am not thinking about if I should do laundry or how much or which load or when I need to switch it over and add another... I know that task is basically "completed" for the day, and it just takes it off of my mind. It's a little thing, but something that I've come to love in our morning routine. 

And lastly, I have always loved a good check-list, but I think recently, Pierce has even gotten on my check-list train. We wrote out just about everything we could think of of things we needed to do this week, and I think each of us look at it multiple times throughout the day/evening to see if there's anything else we can check off for the week. We are making a good dent and hoping to have it all completed before our weekend. It's the first weekend we're laying low in quite some time, and we're looking forward to lots of sweet family time and enjoying this beautiful April in Nashville!! 

And there you have it...just a little this and a little that... I'd love to know routines in your life that make a big difference in your home as well!! It's always such a fun topic, and I love getting ideas too!! Thanks for following along and here's to a productive week this Wednesday morning!!

I'll plan to see you back here tomorrow!
XO
Tab