A Clean House in 15 Minutes a Day

Ok so the title of this post might be ever so slightly misleading, but seriously, I have discovered my secret weapon to combatting the day to day messiness of a house with one toddler and a violently shedding dog and it seriously takes only 15 minutes a day!!!  So I thought I would share this little golden nugget of information with you :).

I think really good housekeepers and productive people in general all have one thing in common: they are good at setting aside chunks of time to combat a problem and then they attack that problem in the allotted time, doing as much as they can and then feeling satisfied with their achievement even if everything is not 100% completed. 

With this understanding in mind, I bought myself a $2.00 timer from Walmart and made myself a goal.  Each day, when Lily goes down for her nap, I set the timer for 15 minutes and then focus on doing as much cleaning as possible before the timer goes off.  I usually focus on one primary area, whichever one I feel needs the most attention on that day, as well as doing at least a few minutes of vacuuming, as vacuuming is something that must be done every single day in my house in order to keep the crumbs and dog fur within reason! 

My 'focus' area is usually one of the places in my home that, if left alone, would spread until it took over the entire room.  For example, the chair in my bedroom that seems to always be piled high with previously worn outfits, my sewing area (set up for now in my living room), or the kitchen table that always collects unopened mail, dog leashes, and everything else that I set down as soon as I walk in the door.  Everyone has these  places in their home.  For my sister, Deanna, it's her living room sofa that's always buried under a mountain of laundry.  For another sister, Susanna, it's the chaise lounge in her living room.  I hope my sisters don't mind me telling on them, but my point is that these 'hot spots' if you will are not anything unique to my household.  Rather, they lurk in every home I know, and the only way to combat them is to spend a few minutes each day working on them.

You would be amazed to discover what you can achieve in just 15 minutes.  In 15 minutes I can vacuum at least two rooms in my home, tidy away toys and other items left out of place, organize the shelves in my den and sweep my patio.  Every day my fifteen minutes is a bit different, depending on what needs the most attention.  When the timer goes off I finish whatever task I'm in the middle of and then stop cleaning to spend the rest of Lily's nap time doing whatever else I need to do (e.g. bills or correspondance), or just relaxing if I need some down time. 

Some key strategies to get the most out of your 15 minutes of cleaning:

• Eliminate distractions (i.e. do it while the kiddos are napping)
• Have an idea of what you're going to tackle before you begin
• Focus on one area/room at a time and finish that before moving on
• When the timer goes off, finish what you're doing as quickly as possible and then consider yourself 'done'
• Reward yourself after your 15 minutes in some way (e.g. spend a few minutes browsing a magazine, have a nice cup of hot cocoa, or sit and put your feet up or hop on your favorite blog)

Of course your house is not going to be immaculately clean in only 15 minutes a day, but I guarantee it's going to be a lot cleaner then if you spend no time dedicated to cleaning each day.  And of course this 15 minutes a day is in addition to the time we all spend maintaining our homes such as tidying the kitchen after meals, putting things back in their place after each use, etc.  So really, if you asked how long I spend cleaning each day the numbers would be much higher, but the "15 minutes a day clean house" refers to the dedicated 15 minutes of cleaning that goes above and beyond what is absolutely required each day.

I hope you find this tip as useful as I have found it and I'd love to hear your comments and your tips for fighting filth :).  Happy housekeeping and, oh yes, happy halloween, my friends :).

Cute Custom Clock for $4.00

Recently I came across a blog (http://www.wonderfuljoyahead.blogspot.com/) with a post about customizing a $4.00 clock from Walmart.  As I've been looking for a clock for Lily's room and the kitchen, and have not had any luck finding cute affordable clocks, I decided to give it a go.

Here is a link to the detailed instructions from the 'Wonderful Joy Ahead' blog

http://wonderfuljoyahead.blogspot.com/2011/10/clock-diy-make-over.html

And below are my results:

Kitchen clock

clock for Lily's room

I have yet to hang either clock, but wanted to share the project anyway, as I think it is pretty simple and a great gift idea in my opinion!  There are so many ways you could customize a clock using material, paint, fabric, you name it!  How about a custom silhouette clock (see previous post on how to create a silhouette here http://holidayhepburn.blogspot.com/2011/09/custom-silhouettes-in-five-easy-steps.html).  Or a classy monogram clock? 

One word of caution, however, if you decide to give this project a try ... the Walmart clock that I used (and the one used in the example in Wonderful Joy Ahead) does not have a removable battery pack.  When the instructions indicate to 'pop off the battery pack', this means yank it off and try not to smash it while doing so.  The battery pack in both of my clocks busted, but not so badly that they didn't work afterward :).

Hope everyone is having a fabulous week and happy crafting, my friends! XOXO.

God Save the Queen ... Our Trip to England

My husband, daughter and I recently traveled to England to visit friends and family. Lily had never been and, as she was already 15 months old, we figured it was high time we took her to visit the land of her ancestors ... well, some of them anyway :).

After a very exhausting journey, we arrived at 6:30 a.m. London time and were met by Chris' sister, Corinne. She drove us to their new home in Beckenham (outskirts of London), where we were to stay for the next few days.  We spent the entire first day recovering from our journey.  Lily did really well, probably buoyed up by all the excitement of meeting her cousins, Anna (2.5 yrs) and Rowan (5 mo's).

This is Uncle Paul reading a bedtime story to Anna and Lily on the first night we arrived.

The next day we headed into central London to meet up with some friends who had flown in from Barcelona to meet up with us, Sabina and Adrian and their 1 year old son, Max.  Here we are (below) at Trafalgar Square on our way to meet up with them.

Lily had never seen a city the likes of London ... does one even exist?! ... and was fascinated by all the sights!  

Here's another shot taken in Trafalgar square with Chris blending in with the other landmarks :)

This is Lily on the 'tube'.  She's holding her brand new Paddington Bear, which we bought her at Hamley's, London's FAO Schwartz equivalent.  

Here is Chris with Anna and Lily one morning reading one of his childhood favorites, 'Tintin ' to the girls.

There's just something about the way the light filters through the old window panes in the cool crisp English mornings ...

It was so lovely to spend time with Chris' sister and her family. and Lily loved playing with her cousins and visiting their neighborhood park (below).

On our final day in London, Chris' parents and their good friends, Janet and Jim, came over to celebrate Jan's (Granny's) birthday.  The picture below captures the action pretty well .... chaos as you can imagine :).

After a celebratory lunch we were packed up and off to Bath where Chris' parents live.  Bath is also the city where we got married and a gorgeous Georgian town full of beautiful old limestone buildings and cathedrals, ancient Roman baths (hence the name) and amazingly lush grounds and parks.  

Here we are (below) on a typical British walk near Chris' parents' home.  By a typical British walk I mean getting off the roads and traveling the well-trod pathways through fields, by farms, over cattle crossings, etc. in order to arrive at a destination that is a 5 minute drive by road to an American who would never dream of walking across fields when it's so much easier to drive! 

Of course there are some Americans who choose to walk, but they are few and far between, whereas its characteristic of British people if not mandatory to go for these long walks.  I guess one reason we don't do so in America is because the beautiful pathways don't exist on public property.  So we would either have to 'walk' down highways or risk getting shot on private property.  The distances between things here in America is also generally greater so I'm not blaming us!! :)  However, I do truly love walks through the English countryside and long for the same experience state-side.     

Here's granny getting some love from Lily during one of many play sessions in their living room. 

Another highlight of any trip to England is a trip to the pub.  Pubs in England are very different from pubs in the US.  In England, we oftentimes go to the pub for 'pub lunch' which is generally something tasty like soup and 'granary' bread (i.e. amazingly hearty yet light whole grain bread) or ploughman's plate of cheeses and chutneys etc.  The pubs are very child-friendly and sometimes have a grassy area outside with picnic tables, sometimes by the river.

In Bath we visited a pub called The Boathouse for Sunday Roast.  This is another tradition in England.  On Sundays everyone MUST have Sunday Roast ... absolutely required :).  Sunday Roast consists of some roasted meat (pork, chicken, beef or lamb) served with Yorkshire pudding (a hollow roll of bread) and amazing roasted vegetables and gravy.  The roasted vegetables are really the highlight for me.  For some reason their vegetables are just so much tastier than ours and they always have something unusual like parsnips or beet root that we just don't seem to get here (or that I can't seem to find or identify at least :).

The colorful canal boat (below) was docked right outside the Boathouse pub.  It was for sale if anyone's interested in an idyllic life on a canal boat in England ... only 75,000 British pounds or around 125,000 American dollars :).

And the shot below was taken outside the pub as well ... isn't it such beautiful countryside?!  The dog looks like something out of "Hounds of the Baskervilles" and is a whippet mix of some kind (I couldn't quite understand the west country lad who owned it).  

After several wonderful and relaxing days in Bath (Jan and Alan always completely spoil us when we're there!) we headed down to Devon on the train (below).  Chris' parents had gone on ahead so that our friends, James and SJ, could come and spend a couple days with us in Bath.  

Devon is further south than Bath and is near the sea.  Chris' parents have a home in a tiny little village ... a Hamlet rather ... called Woodlands.  It sits directly across from a very old church (below)

It's called 'Oldstone Cottage'.  All the homes in England, older ones at least, have a name rather than a number.  So your address might be 'Old Priory Cottage' on Landsdown Road rather than 3074 Landsdown

Oldstone cottage (below) has a beautiful gravel path leading up to the old converted barn that makes up the main residence and a beautiful expanse of lush green grass across which the occasional wild bunny hops.  

Woodland is definitely a place to relax, nestled in the beautiful countryside with not much more than the church and the local pub.  But there are many activities on its doorstep.

One such activity is Riverford Farm, a nearby organic farm that offers a 'farm to table' concept restaurant.  Jan had booked us in for a joint celebration lunch there (we both had birthdays while I was over there).  

The food was served 'family style' (below) and was absolutely amazing.  So fresh and tasty and very inventive combinations of flavors. 

Another nearby attraction was Pennywell Farm, which was one part amusement park (though tiny and quaint as you would expect) and one part real working farm.  They had a falconry show that was amazing, with hawks and owls grazing your hair as they flew over the top of you!  It really truly almost made me want to take up the hobby of falconry!!  Wonder if the neighbors would mind ...

Here's the falconer (on the left) with a beautiful owl.  

And here we are (above) watching the show.  I finally had an opportunity to wear my new leopard-print wellies so I jumped on it :)

They had a huge number of sheep, goats, chickens etc that you could pet and hold.  We even got to hold some adorable miniature piglets (above) that I seriously considered packing in my suitcase and bringing home with me.  They do apparently sell these pigs as pets, but once we saw how big the momma pig was, my dreams dissipated (think smallish Great Dane size, only fatter!!).  

Some of Jan and Alan's friends in Woodland have just built an amazing indoor swimming pool complex on their property and were kind enough to let us use it one day while we were there.  Lily and her cousins (who had come down from London to join us) had such fun splashing about in the heated pool and jacuzzi.  It was an amazing building with large oak ceiling beams and beautiful inlaid tiles around the perimeter.  

On our last day in England we visited the famed 'Totnes Market' which is any antique lover's dream.  There are hundreds of stalls with people selling vintage jewelry, books, china, etc, as well as some stalls selling new items.  I only regretted not having more room in my suitcases!!  

Above is one of the stalls at the market selling new Cath Kidston inspired pajamas, tea towels, etc.  This is a very British style that you see everywhere in England.  

And here is Lily watching a performing street artist near the market.  He was singing traditional old songs and tapping his foot so that the puppet (a kind of scary looking thing!) danced to the music.  Lily was absolutely entranced and stomped her foot to the beat :).

All in all we spent two absolutely wonderful weeks in England and were sad to leave.  Being there made us both realize how much we miss England and all its eccentricities.  We hope to be back there soon and to expose Lily to this wonderful culture as much as possible as she grows up though, to my husband's great disappointment, I don't believe it will ever be enough to have her share his British accent :)

Musings on a very elusive concept ... contentedness

This morning I have been struggling with a common problem ... the problem of contentedness or, more aptly, my lack thereof.  I have always considered myself an optimistic bubbly sort of person, but when my life was recently 'turned upside down' by the birth of my daughter, I found that some of my natural 'fizz' started to go flat.

Some girls dream of the day when they will be grown with a home and family of their own, but this was never my dream.  I always assumed that at this age I'd be working my way up some corporate ladder wearing fabulous six-inch Jimmy Choos rather than schlepping around in jeggings with yogurt encrusted oatmeal as my 'signature' accessory.  Of course, as soon as I entered the working force many years ago and began the harried rat race that is corporate America, I knew that this was probably not the pathway that would lead to contementment. 

As such, when I had the opportunity several years later to stay at home as a full-time homemaker I jumped on it.  People were generally amazed that such a thing still existed (i.e. a homemaker with no kids) and were beyond suspicious at how exactly I filled my time each day.  But being a naturally productive (though lazy) person, I managed to fill the days with loads of activities.  I spent ages trying to learn to keep the house clean and learn to cook for my husband (my pre-marriage repertoire consisted of canned tomatoe soup and grilled cheese sandwiches).  I also regularly took on little 'projects' such as charity work, getting my real estate license, some event planning, etc.  In this way, I happily passed several years before giving birth to our first child.

Since Lily's birth, my days are no longer my own and I think this has been a real challenge for someone who had enjoyed such independence for so many years.  In the very beginning I struggled every single day to cope with my baby's 'neediness'.  I thought she should just fit in with my schedule and assumed that, other than feeding and changing her, she somehow wouldn't interfere with my goals and objectives - wrong!  It took about six months of 'fighting it' before I realized that the only way to be content (not to mention sane) was to give in and allow this little bundle to essentially take over and be the priority.  Since accepting this fact, I have been much more content.

However, I still struggle on a day-to-day basis with being 100% content with my lot ... er um, blessing ... as a stay-at-home mom.  If I take a moment to look around I can see that I am truly fortunate with so many things to be thankful for: a wonderful husband, a nice home in America's finest city (San Diego), a healthy daugther, good health personally, etc.  So clearly the path to contentment does not lie in our possessions or circumstances. 

How then can we become content?  My wise mother gave me some great advice this morning when she suggested that I look at God's Word for the answer.  Specifically, she suggested I look at the concordance in the back of my Bible for verses related to 'contentedness'.  Being a gen X'er I immediately googled 'Bible verses about contentedness'.  Below are some of the verses that I found, that I personally connected with.

Proverbs 14:30
A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.

Proverbs 15:13
A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit.

Ecclesiastes 3:12-13
I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil-this is the gift of God.

Ecclesiastes 5:18-19
Then I realized that it is good and proper for a man to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in his toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given him-for this is his lot. Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work-this is a gift of

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

So essentially it seems that these verses about 'contentedness' actually tell us to be happy and joyful, which is kind of what contendedness is, right?  I mean, you can't be happy and joyful unless you're content, and you can't be content unless you're happy and joyful?  So is God telling us to fake it until it becomes reality?  No, I don't think He is. 

Rather, I think that the only way one can actually latch onto contentment is through prayer and a personal relationship with Christ.  If Christ is the giver of all things good, then this would make perfect sense.

So the first step in being content IMHO is a relationship with Christ.  If you don't personally have a relationship with Christ, I encourage you to seek Him and you will find Him.  "For God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life" John 3:16. 

Obviously simply becoming (or being) a Christian doesn't guarantee contentedness, but it's a very good place to start and one of my favorite quotes from Pinterest this week says "Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can".  And that is very good advice, my friends!  So let's all start here today, where we are, and seek to be more content.  Have a blessed Wednesday!

Small Changes Challenge

After a three week (?) hiatus I'm finally back and ready to put some more thoughts into the blogosphere!  We were in England for the past two weeks visiting friends and family.  It was an absolutely wonderful trip and reminded me once again of my love for this small but great country from which my husband hails.  One of the best things about England are the publications.  I always find such inspiration in their magazines and newspapers!! 

One such inspiration was an article I read in the 'Red' womens' magazine called 'Tweak a little, change a lot' (Red Magazine, October 2011).  In this article, the author discusses the concept of Acting Against Type (ATT) or, how little changes can add up to big change. 

This reminded me of the recent change to my lifestyle of cutting out all weekday alcohol.  The change was so effective in the month that I committed to doing it (August), that I decided to incorporate the change into my lifestyle for good.  In two months I had lost several pounds and was beginning to see and feel the difference and was receiving loads of compliments,  the absolute best motivation I know of!!  All this with no other change at all than cutting out weekday alcohol!

So, as I say, the article struck a chord with me.  The concept of making minor changes can be incorporated into so many aspects of life, to effect positive changes in a variety of ways ... physically, socially, mentally, spiritually ... there's no end to what you could do with just a few minor tweaks!!

As such ... and building on my first small change of eliminating alcohol on weekdays ... I am going to plan to incorporate (and of course blog about!) one small change each month.  This month I am going to tackle a real pet peeve of my husband's ... my filthy car!!  My minor change for the month of October will be to commit to removing all items and trash from my car each time I get home.  It currently looks like a 'Cheerio bomb' went off in the backseat and there are about 25 miscelaneous items (ball pit from friend's child's bday party, returns to about five different stores, etc.) in the trunk and backseat that need to be sorted through! 

So by October's end not only will I feel even better physically from the previously incorprated change, I will also be sporting a newly clean and de-crusted automobile, which I suspect will only add to my general happiness and that of my husband :).  Wish me luck, friends!!