week 2 and 3 with pics of the organizing challenge sorry having issues

I have still been working on the weekly challenges at http://www.home-storage-solutions-101.com/ but realized I have missed posting pics for week 2 , week 3 while I was getting ready to post for week 4.



This weeks was to do the fridge and freezer. For me the fridge was easy because I had already purchased baskets to hold things so it was just to take everything out and wipe it down. I re-organized the condiments on the door though. I still need to label my baskets which I will do later today.

No pics of the freezer sorry.
The freezer still not happy with it but still using bins to try and organize. Any other ideas for a chest freezer????????

So I digress to last weeks challenge which was to clean all food cupboards and pantry. I happily loved this challenge and took to throwing out old things and moving some things around. I havent went to dollearama yet but I will buy a basket for my bake goods to be together. In my food pantry I have had baskets set up for awhile now and had to just re-organize them.





The week before was all the cupboards except food ones. So I got to work taking everything out of the cupboards one cupboard at a time. I threw away a whole garbage bag of stuff and donated another whole garbage bag to value village. I loved that as I cleaned and organized it seem to get easier and I had no problem throwing away things. I found new homes for some things too!!
I tried to leave space in each cupboard which I am happy to say was accomplished!!!
I love how it all feels better to open a cupboard and be able to see everything to know where everything goes!!!!!!!!!!!
I am loving these challenges so much I can see how it is affecting for the positive other aspects of my life!!!!! When I organize, purge and clean I feel energized!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Love this so much!!!!!!

A follow up to the first challenge I have kept my kitchen counter cleaned. It really is all about taking 5-10 minutes each night and cleaning it up and putting things where they belong like the dishes in the dishwasher . Love that this has formed into a habit for me !!!!!!!!!!!

Week 1 - organizing challenge cont

Happy to report my counter looks the same as the afters in the other post still. I have been maintaining it well.
I had one more part of my countertop that I did not finish the first day. The challenge does last all week so I knew I had time. I wanted to do a really good job before posting it. I finished it yesterday and wanted to share it with you .
I again took everything off the countertop and wiped it all down. I decided to change systems though for handling this area. I had a shelf unit which started out great one shelf for my husband, one for my daughter, one for me and one for coupons. Okay so like I said it started out as a good idea and was good for a bit but just wasnt working for me any more and I knew I had to find a different system. I wasnt really using this spot anymore and neither was my daughter so we didnt need that spot anymore. Hubbie loved it but he piled and piled his stuff higher and higher. I finally found a box with a lid to contain all of his stuff and to give him a limit of only whatever fit in the box. I am concerned he might pile on top but we will deal with that when it happens for now it is great!!!!!!!!!!!
The other part that was not working well for me was the coupons and since I really do want to start couponing more I needed a better system other than putting them on a shelf and digging for them. Most times when I did dig through they had expired and were then thrown out. I am going to be buying a binder to organize them for now I have them in one white envelope. I will buy this binder and plastic sleeves tomorrow. Still not sure how to organize them by category, date but I am sure I will figure it out. If you have any ideas or links to coupon binders please feel free to share .

After :

Week 1 of the challenge-Kitchen - sink , countertops, table

Today is week 1 of the challenge at http://www.home-storage-solutions-101.com/ which is to clean and organize your countertops, sink and table.
First off I have decided to be totally honest in this process and to show you the true befores and afters of these challenges. So here are the befores for today :

So the first thing I did was take everything off the counter and wipe it down. I only put back the things that I knew I wanted there and put everything else where it belonged too. I also needed to find a home for the new lagostina pots and pans I received as a christmas gift instead of displaying them on the counter. They found their new home in the drawer of the stove. I am not sure I am happy with them there but will address that in another part of the challenge. When we are doing the cupboards I want to change many of mine around and purge a lot of stuff to make a new home for them. But for now they will stay in that drawer.
Here are the afters:

I didnt have to do anything except put one newspaper into recycling . It is always clear thankfully!!!!!!!!!!

What amazed me most about this challenge was that it took me a very short time to make my kitchen have that ahhhhh.. feeling!!!!!!!! It really was about just taking the time tto put stuff away, empty the dishwasher and reload it , take out the garbage, do up a couple of dishes by hand and wipe down the counters and the sink with my norwex cloth.
So day 1 done and now to maintain this !!!!!!!!!

Starting 2012 bringing in fresh energy

Wow what a difference 24 hours can make. I was looking around on pinterest( a little addicted) and found an organizing challenge. I have done some of these before and love the support you get from others that helps you to stay motivated to continue.
I quickly found the challenge on face book too at https://www.facebook.com/HomeStorageSolutions101 and joined right away. I then posted it to my face book because I have some face book friends who I have done other challenges with but was amazed when a lot of my face book friends wanted to join too !!!!!!!! So together we can conquer this challenge!!!!!!!!
Then I was chatting with a few friends and got the idea to resurrect this old blog of mine and use it for the organizing challenge where we can say what we have accomplished and cheer one another on.
Please dont be afraid to join this challenge look at the name of this blog wheredoigetstarted that was back when I started organizing my house . I have come a long way but realize it is once again time to start over and tweak some systems already in place and hopefully find more creative ways too. So please feel free to share away!!!!!!!!!!!!

Shesconnected Toshiba Brand Ambassador Mission

I was thrilled to be selected as a Toshiba Brand Ambassador by Shesconnected.
I chose to learn more about the Toshiba Tablet so my daughter and I headed off
to the nearest Best Buy.




We easily were able to find it and I was so impressed with all the things you could do
with just this product. This tablet was perfect for all the things I love doing already
with my computer but love that I could do all those things and be portable!!!!
You can easily browse the web, tweet, Facebook, watch movies, play games, listen to music and so much more!!

These are the features that I fell in love with :
- two cameras a front facing ( 2 MPs ) and a rear camera ( 5 MPs) .
- nice size screen 10.1" wide (easy to read )
- wifi access including flash( great for playing games)
- read e-books
- customizable slip resistant back available in 6 different colors
- many ports options available USB, mini- USB, HDMI, and SD too
- replaceable battery

The last feature I know I would use over and over again was to be able to use the HDMI port and
share my movies and photos on my television.

After learning about the tablet I was left wondering what it could not do !!! This would be
a great gift for a techie or a wanna be techie. Easy to use for everyone!!!!!!! I know this is on
my Christmas list!! Better hurry fast at the Best Buy we went to there was only one left.

If you want to know more about Toshiba Products check out their website at toshiba canada .
You can follow them on twitter @toshibacanada or Facebook ToshibaCanada



*I received a Toshiba Camileo in exchange for my participation in this campaign. The opinions
on this blog are my own.