Monday, July 30, 2018

Unmotivated Homemaker

Besides this blog of mine (which by far was my most loved writing space by me) I have tried to "rebrand" or "reinvent" my outlet space multiple times. I can't tell you why, and since they didn't endure there was definitely no reason my subconscious could find either. I've tried 2 other blogging platforms and 2 separate YouTube channels. Consistently in all the other places I've attempted to mimic other bloggers and vloggers that I've followed, producing similar content instead of my natural writing style that this blog has always held.

One big issue with that is, I'm a terrible homemaker.

You see, the defining points of my life that are the most "marketable" are that I am a Mother and a Homemaker. Despite my mother's valiant efforts at teaching me the skills I would need to be a successful homemaker, I failed to commit those skills to habits. When you throw motherhood and emotional issues in the mix my already deplorable homemaking skills became nonexistent. And when you can't barely keep a house and home in working order, there is nothing triumphant feeling about your motherhood.

At many points in the different "rebrands" I attempted series that would encourage me to become a better homemaker. But the incentive to share my success with the blogosphere never was enough motivation to finally get me to make habits. When I stopped blogging and vlogging in the lowest part of my emotional state I was also at the most defeated household state.

Years earlier I had read an ebook entitled A Slob Comes Clean and had stumbled upon FlyLady (and tried her methods and failed). Apparently, I just need to let thoughts and ideas percolate for a while before attempting to implement them. (Not going to lie, no longer being in the babyhood stage doesn't hurt either.)

So, where is this super long story headed? So glad you asked.

August is just 2 days away. That means my month long homemaker challenge that I told NO one about (because that seems to be a key to success for me as well) is ending. I took ideas from that ebook and from FlyLady and unofficially and loosely applied them to our home. It started with making my bed daily and putting real clothes on. There was an attempt to do laundry daily and keep the dishes clean (not as much success on those two, but definite progress). More mindfulness about clutter, decluttering, and encouraging my kids to also pick up after themselves.

Coming off that success, I'd like to challenge myself to have monthly Homemaker Check-ins. Here's how this will work. At the beginning of each month I would like to outline my general and specific goals, then at the end of the month/beginning of the next month recap how it went and prepare the the next month. The ideas and thoughts for my homemaking will likely come from a few places - A Slob Comes Clean, FlyLady, and Clean My Space.

Here's to more successes to come!

Mrs. Troyer

Saturday, July 28, 2018

Little Thoughts... 07-28-2018

It's Saturday.

I'm feeling slightly apprehensive about my mom's surgery on Monday.

Brian is loving having full accessibility to the puzzles now, I think this is his 5th or 6th one today.


Chad had to work part of the day, so he's tired.

I need to get a better pillow situation figured out so my neck and jaw will stop hurting.

The girls experience the full spectrum of love and annoyance in the matter of 15 minutes. One moment they are playing and tickling and wrestling, and the next they are screaming and yelling at each other.


I'm dreading making suppers this week. The kids are back in their funk where they won't eat anything. 2 of them refused lasagna tonight.


Today I finished the last of the the tote swapping between the master bedroom and the girls' bedroom. Only one bookshelf of my books left to rehome.

I'm planning for phonics to begin in August. We took the last few weeks in July as a July break for school, but now phonics will begin for Alexi in August. Then the rest of school for her and for the two littles will begin in September.

I have a letter that I have been writing for days that I really should just sign and put in the mailbox, but something is stopping me. Probably just laziness, but I'll call it the FOLSO (fear of leaving something out).

I haven't been drinking enough water.

My kids don't drink enough water.

How do you get kids to drink more water?

Tuesday, July 24, 2018

House Projects Update

I left you with our Entryway painting started last. Well, good news, bad news. 
Let's go with the good news first.
  • The walls are painted
  • The exterior doors are painted
  • The trim is painted
  • The ceiling is painted
  • The lights have been replaced

The bad news is that the closet doors were fastened on (or actually we are assuming it was a fix at some point in the life of the doors) in such a way that we don't really have a choice. Either we paint them there (and allow them to be wonky because they can't be fixed easily) or we replace them. So here's my updated list of what is left to be done in that room.
  • Paint the inside of the closet
  • Replace the closet doors
  • Put up baseboard
  • Build bench
  • Replace rug
What does that make the entryway, 50% or so?

In other house news, our windows are being replaced this summer! (also known as, our bank account hates us) Our windows are original to the house, single pane with storm windows that are falling off on the outside. The casings are not sealed really at all and they are all push out windows. Basically by replacing the windows we should notice a difference in the winter with keeping the heat, in the summer with keeping the heat out, and hopefully all year round keeping more insect activity out! Yay us!! 

Doing the windows has rearranged some timeline for house stuff too. The option we could afford on the windows means that we will need to paint our own exterior trim. What better time to paint the whole house? So we have that to look forward to possibly this fall or next spring.

Also, we just did some room rearranging to allow our window guys easier access to all the windows. For the first time since owning this home, Chad and I have the master bedroom as ours. We put kids in it up to this point so it could serve as a playroom and bedroom, but we always knew down the line we'd reclaim it eventually. 





Tentatively this is my upcoming house projects
  • Finish Entryway
  • Paint window trim + exterior
  • Paint girls' bedroom
  • Paint master bedroom
  • Demo basement

Saturday, July 21, 2018

Glad to be Back

Depression, anxiety, the results of trying to rely on myself, on the wisdom of men, looking at my situations with worldly eyes instead of in the light of eternity...

Since Christmas time I spent months with unexplainable anxiety and depression. Days of nonstop crying. Neck and back pain so bad I didn't want to move. Loneliness felt so deep it tunneled my vision and made me feel helpless.

May and June were the worst. VBS sent my stress level to the moon. Then I added my first dental appointment since 2011 and pretty much I felt like I ceased to exist.

But then came the sweet call from God, reaching down into the mess I created myself. Then came the loving care of friends who, though removed from me physically, speak such joy and comfort into my soul. Then came the relief of the responsibilities being over.

Guess what, God did not and will not give up on me. He will not cease caring and say "she's too far down that rabbit hole". And no matter how far I feel like I have backtracked, He takes the time to show me how the process is always growing me.

Glad to be back.

Mrs. Troyer