Spring Cleaning

We've lived in this house for going on 6 months already. Hard to imagine, huh?

Especially when you consider that I have yet to really organize my kitchen. Sure, little emergency organization moments have sprung up here and there, but I've never settled on something I feel great about.

Probably because I've never really given the kitchen the attention it needs. I mean, really- I spend tons of time in there already doing the daily 'have to be done' stuff like cooking and cleaning. Do I really want to log more kitchen hours at the end of the day organizing?! I guess it must be done, though, because I just don't feel settled when I open a cabinet full of random things from canned food to spices to extra storage containers to fish care supplies.

We've been making baby steps to this moment for months. Jason put up some much needed shelving, we scored a little table off of KSL to give us more 'counter' space, we've hung some decorations. It's beginning to feel more and more homey. Organization is the last frontier!

With all that background information in mind, you'll understand why I was excited to read that one of lady's who's blog I mostly 'lurk' has decided to declare March the "Month of the Kitchen". Hooray! What's more, she provided a link to another blog, (I'm excited to check this blog out in greater depth), which is breaking March down into week long mini projects. Double Hooray! There's nothing like a support group (even if it is an online one) to help turn a long postponed chore into an adventure.

So, in the Month of the Kitchen, this week our project was cleaning and organizing the fridge.

With the weather being so nice this week, I was having a hard time getting myself to stay put for long enough to tackle the fridge and freezer. This morning, on my way to the local nursery, I took this picture:

After getting Rudy down for his nap, I was so tempted to get out there in my garden and start preparing my soil for all the delightful seeds I'd come home with. Tempted, that is, until I looked outside and saw this:

Ah, March. Warm and sunny in the morning, snowing heavily in the afternoon. Today, the weather worked well for me, because it kept me from digging in my yard when I really needed to be digging old crusty food out of my freezer. (I found a spinach block that was best by March 2008 in there.)

Thanks to Mother Nature's prodding, I completed the first task in my kitchen organizing goals. Here's the before and after pictures:

I decided to wear my new gardening gloves to clear the freezer. I thought it might help me feel better about doing housework instead of yard work. That, and my hands are pretty wimpy when it comes to cold-they take forever to warm up again if they get chilled!

Before

After!

Before...

After!

Before...

After!

Before...

After!

Hooray! Now I can work outside tomorrow! Except for the whole snow thing...maybe I'll work on finally getting some window coverings sewn for our dining room. Sigh. Hurry up Spring!