Getting Ready for Camp...

Once we got everything approved for Camp we had a meeting with the parents and girls to give them some information about what we'd be doing at Camp.  Here are a few things we did in preparation for that...

Google Drive Doc

Google Drive Doc

I used clip art mostly from my Word, 

but I also found great free clipart here at Melonheadz LDS illustrations

This was our Camp Scripture.

Google Drive Doc

Girl's Camp 2013

I belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (yep, I'm a Mormon) and currently I work with the young women age 12-18.  They are loads of fun!  Every summer the girls participate in a Young Women Girl's Camp, typically with a fairly large group of girls.  This summer we were in charge of having girl's camp on a ward level - which means versus a 100 girls we had 13 girls. 

Smaller Group + One Great Fundraiser = Lots of Possibilities

First we chose the place, then we picked a theme.

Our theme this year was....

Lolly Jane

We took it from a talk given by Pres. Thomas S. Monson,

Believe, Obey, and Endure

Once we found a theme - the ideas were seemingly endless.

We wanted the girls to understand that instead of being overwhelmed with all that life is and can be, 

to set small goals that would bring them closer to one another, 

closer to their families, and closer to their Heavenly Father.

We created a Daily Goal board - these became our daily theme:

Friendship

Service

Humor

Gratitude

Out of Milk!

If you have read any parts of this blog, I am sure it did not take you long to figure out that we girls are always in pursuit of getting organized. Not sure what that's all about - calmness, sense of order, control issues... Who knows, but it is what it is. And I must say, it makes me happy to feel some part of my life is put together. At least for a short time.


Anyway .. the good stuff.  A while back my friend (apparently I attract others with similar qualities) shared a fun app with me for my smart phone.  Out of Milk.  For those of you like me, I have had my smart phone for a little over a year and I am certain I under utilize it.  So needless to say it took me a little while to start using the app (and must admit I still am only using a very small portion of it).

This app is great!  I love it - well worth the money.  Site says $1.99 today, but I may have paid $4.99.  You can use it obviously on your phone, but also on your computer, which I think is a really nice feature.



Today though I wanted to play around with the Pantry List part of the app - it helps you keep track of what you have in your pantry and how much.  Great right!  Well unless you have to sit and manually enter each item. NO! It has a scan that let's you use your phone to scan the barcode, look up the item, and then you simply add the quantity.

I just tackled my spice rack today and spent about 15 minutes scanning the draw. 

I am still learning how to use it, but it is just so darn cool I had to share.

Spring Cleaning!

I found myself with some extra time this week and I decided it was time to do a little spring cleaning in my house. I know, I'm so exciting! Today - I tackled the REFRIGERATOR.  Not the freezer mind you, just the refrigerator.  Who knew so many things could hide behind others.  Luckily no science experiments going on - just a few items out of date.

While I was waiting for things to dry in the sink, I took a look online to see what type of organizing ideas I might get.  I thought I would share some of my findings.

I have to admit - I do love Crate & Barrel!

More fun photos...

Martha Stewart

and sites....

REAL SIMPLE

Live Simply

I always do a quick clean and sweep when I go grocery shopping - before I add the new, fresh items - I like to tidy up the shelves and wipe them down.  But, when you are really going to clean it - you need to set aside a little bit of time so you can empty out your refrigerator, take out the shelves and bins, wash them in some warm soapy water, and wipe out the refrigerator really well.  It's very simple, no crazy strategy. But I must say it will look worse before it gets better.  Everything from the refrigerator will be on your counter tops.

Sadly, I did not take any before pictures of mine - sorry!  But here are the during & after shots.

More on the Kitchen

OK, so I have gotten a few questions from my last post regarding the kitchen where I shared some pictures of my kitchen.  For starters, yes that is my kitchen. It photographed really well. I was happy, but in reality it is much smaller than it appears.  Second, that is what my cabinets look like, for the most part.  I do periodically go through and clean my cabinets, reorganize them, and such.  Obviously I took the pictures right after I had tidied up - come on, we all want to look our best for photos.

But really, I do keep my pantries looking like that for the most part.  For me I need order to feel calm, and for a period of time I was a bit under the weather and I had a lot of different people in my house helping.  If I kept my pantry in order, it was much easier for them to figure out where things went. Not to mention much easier for me to find when I needed something.

This week I thought I would share some kitchen's I found online that I love.  They helped give me some inspiration on how to put mine in order.  Hope you enjoy!

From the Martha Stewart Studio Kitchen

Another great blog post from Food for My Family

you should check it out!

More from Martha Stewart

source Martha Stewart

Many Faces of the Kitchen

We thought it would be fun to share our kitchens with you.  So I get to go first!  I like to have a place for everything and everything in it's place, it doesn't always work out that way, but I have found that when my kitchen is in order it makes things so much easier.

I hear people complain that it's too much work to cook or it takes too long.  I think if you have a kitchen that is well stocked with the basics, along with some fun stuff, it makes all the difference in the world.  I have a "Galley Style" kitchen.  For those of you not familiar with that term - it refers to a kitchen that has a center walkway with the counters, appliances, and such along either side.  It can be a pretty tight kitchen, but it is also one of the most efficient kitchens - for one or two people.  After that, well let's just say it isn't pretty.

When I designed my new kitchen (compliments of a tornado, yes tornado), I wanted to take advantage of every inch.  So I chose to have the cabinets go all the way to the ceiling.  I also opted for wide deep drawers instead of all bottom cabinets.  Because I don't have a lot of counter space I try to keep it as clutter free as I can.

I thought I would share some photos of my kitchen with you;

Now that you can see the basic layout of my kitchen

I'll give you a peek of how I have it stocked.

By the sink and dishwasher I try to keep all the items that can easily be unloaded and put away.

Beside the stove, I try to keep the things I need at hand.

Not to mention a few things in the oven warmer!

 ~
I  also have  an area just to the left of my stove that I use as my "Baker's Center".

Here in these cabinets and drawers I try to keep all of the items I need when I bake.

This is the work horse of my kitchen - I use it for just about everything!

Above my refrigerator I keep things like my crock pot, fondue pot, and roasting pan.
Things that I need, but don't use on a weekly basis.

Under my sink I keep my cleaning supplies
and of course we need food, not to mention a few junk drawers.

Now I do have a variety of my pantry items in my garage, but I'll save that for another post.

I also should tell you that with the limited space in the kitchen
I have an amazing hutch in my dining room
that I use to house a lot of my other kitchen items.  Mostly things I don't use on a regular basis.