Keep Clean & Carry On

Today, I'm hoping to start off my week on a productive note and I have a little something something for you, dear friends.

Recently, the lovely Meredith of Everything Espey wrote an oh-so-helpful blog post about a wonderful daily chore chart that she discovered over on Design Finch.  I loved this because:

• I am a slob.
• I hate cleaning.
• I love pretty printables.
• I like to organize.

Meredith inspired me to hop on the bandwagon and make a little cleaning/organizing chart of my own.  I'm hoping this will help me accomplish tasks throughout the day/week so that I don't have to spend half a day every weekend doing the cleaning and de-cluttering that I should have been doing little by little during the week.

Here's my cleaning chart; I thought if I made it pretty, it might help my slobby self?!?  We'll see.  I'm hoping to turn into more of a "place for everything and everything in it's place" kind of gal.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed! 

Just for you, I've decided to share a blank copy of this in case you'd like to fill it in with your own weekly to-do list.  Click here to download the Keep Clean & Carry On organizer as a PDF file.

Thank you to the always inspiring Design Seeds for the pretty color palette that I used for the project, and to two of my fave ladies, Katie and Crystal for all the pretty inspiration they've posted on our collaborative Color Inspiration board on Pinterest!

What helps you keep clean and organized?  I am always in need of some help with this one.  #BadHousewife

Real Housewives & Merrie-Woode Girls

[caption id="attachment_314" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Kristen, Rebecca, me, Brandi, Tanya, Katie, Nicole, Meagan, Taylor, Emily, Heidi, Megan"][/caption]

My friends here on the island are pretty amazing.  Not only are they beautiful women, but they are also all extremely talented.  Sometimes we call ourselves The Real Housewives of Dominica.  That makes me laugh.  It has been so much fun getting to know all the girls here.  For example, check out our cooking blog, Spouses' Kitchen.  We all contribute, and the computer/design savvy girls make it look good, and we all use it as inspiration for deliciousness.  Love it!  We all come from so many different backgrounds, states (Alaska, Kentucky, Minnesota, Arizona, Colorado, Texas, California, Florida, Kansas, Arkansas, New York), and are talented in so many ways.  We are teachers, artists, nurses, yogis, spinners, cooks, bakers, counselors, fundraisers, hair stylists, designers, sewers, athletes, dancers, decorators... the list goes on and on!

[caption id="attachment_319" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Katie, Tracy, Emily, Heidi, Meagan, Taylor, Brandi, Casey, Jen, me, Megan"][/caption]

Sometimes this island reminds me a lot of Merrie-Woode (my summer camp growing up!), but with wine!  Here are some reasons why: wonderful girls who you get to know better and better each day... learning so much about each other quickly, because you spend so much time together...  signing up for trips and taking long rides in vans, with windy, bumpy roads, carsickness, and Dramamine... cool mountain mornings and evenings...  costume parties...  game nights... snakes and bugs, often in your apartment... refreshing afternoon and evening rainstorms... swimming in waterfalls, rivers, and swimming holes... saying goodbye to close friends leaving the island at the end of the semester...

[caption id="attachment_318" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="On our girls' trip to Barbados! Me, Tanya, Megan, Kristen"][/caption]

While I miss my family and friends from home, I have loved getting to know all the new friends I have made here in I cannot imagine what this experience would be like without all of the wonderful friends I've made here.  Thanks to all of you for making my first semester such a great one!

[caption id="attachment_317" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="At Cabrits! Kristen, Heidi, Mary, me, Tanya, Emily, Taylor, Rebecca"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_316" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Barbados! Megan, Tanya, Kristen, me"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_315" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Afternoon on the dock! Rebecca, Tracy, me, Katie"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_311" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="At Red Rock at the beginning of the semester: Katie, Emily, Megan, Taylor, Heidi, Tracy, Brandi, me, Meagan"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_310" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Sunset at Cabrits! Emily, Brandi, Nicole, Megan, Francis (aka "the black Michael Jackson"), Meagan, Heidi, me, Katie, Tracy"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_312" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="An afternoon in Glanvillia: Katie, me, Tracy"][/caption]