Getting Out of My Rut

Blah.

That’s how I’ve felt lately.

I’ve been in a rut for the last month or so. After the busyness of the holiday season passed, I found myself needing to nourish my personal life but not sure how to do it. I spend most of my time at work so I focused on that first. I work 8 to 5 most days, but on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I go to a weight-lifting class in the afternoon, so I stay a bit later. I’ve really enjoyed exercising (somewhat) consistently! I no longer feel like I’m going to die when I pick up the kettlebells and I think I’m actually getting stronger! But besides work and working out, my life has felt boring. I hate saying that. I’ve been looking for a creative project to do in my free time, but nothing has caught my eye. I made a list of things I want to learn/talents I want to develop, and that helped a little:

• Watercoloring
• Building a website from scratch
• Abstract art
• Cooking a pot roast
• Product photography
• Writing/blogging
• Baking
• Fashion illustration
• Interior design (CAD software)
• Family history
• Community service
• Videography

Honestly, sometimes I feel like the secret to getting out of a rut is just doing SOMETHING. It doesn’t have to be the most meaningful activity in the world, it can just be something that gets you off social media and into a project. I’ll tell you about a few other things that have helped me feel less blah lately.

The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.

Eleanor Roosevelt

AUDIBLE

After trying (unsuccessfully) to listen to a book I really wanted to read on Overdrive, I caved and payed for an Audible subscription. I must say, I think it’s totally worth it! I listened to A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The only downside is that the subscription only covers 1 book a month, and I finished my book in less than 2 weeks! So I’m figuring that out.

WALKS

I LOVE taking walks and now that the weather is warming up in Utah, I’ve been going on more of them! These are some pictures from my favorite walks.

BUYING GROCERIES ONLINE

One of my coworkers convinced me to buy my groceries online and it has been LIFE-CHANGING. (If you follow me on Instagram you already know this.) I place my order online and I pick it up on my way home from work. I shop at Macey’s and it’s only $1.99 (on top of your order price) to have someone select your groceries and bring them out to the car. It is heavenly. I still go to Winco about 1x a month but I don’t have to go more often than that and I can order things from Macey’s in between.

JOURNALING

I’m learning how to journal more effectively to help me process my feelings and deal with questions I have in my life. I have a journal that’s just for me (meaning I’m not ever going to show it to anybody), and I don’t write in it every day, but I try to write in it semi-frequently and I feel like it’s helped me to find more direction and not feel as overwhelmed at work and at home.

GOOGLE KEEP

If any of you don’t know what Google Keep is, I am about to rock your world. Google Keep is a website where you can take notes on virtual sticky notes. You can share your notes with people, set reminders, and turn them into checkboxes for to-do lists. I have a running list of “Groceries to Buy” that I share with my husband and then some miscellaneous notes for different projects and tasks.




Anyway, that’s basically it. I still feel blah from time to time, and I think that’s normal, but I’m getting better at finding something to do and not getting overwhelmed. I’m excited for spring and summer and more walks outside in the sunshine.

Thanks for reading!

♡♡♡

Rebecca

Things I Have Organized in 2017

I’ve been on a major organization kick lately. I made a goal to improve my physical environment this year, and to me that meant cleaning and organizing literally everything. It’s been a huge project because (a) I’m already pretty organized and (b) because I have REALLY limited space and A LOT of stuff. So with that introduction, here’s a list of all the things I organized in 2017!

THE BATHROOM

Our bathroom is teeny tiny with absolutely no storage. We don’t even have space around the sink to balance my hair straightener. I have to put it on the toilet seat while I do my hair. My goal was to organize everything without making it hard to access anything.

I bought these white baskets from Target that fit perfectly on the shelf above the toilet. There’s a big one beneath the sink for toilet paper, but I forgot to get a picture of it.

I found a cute hack on Pinterest for storing my makeup brushes. You put rocks in the bottom of a jar so that the brushes stand up on their own. It has actually helped a lot!

Next . . . UNDER THE SINK

If you follow me on Instagram, you probably saw me organize this space in real time. It was a little overwhelming because there was SOOOOO much stuff, but I found an awesome tutorial that inspired me to get started. I bought the silver stands/baskets from Amazon and I think they were worth every penny! I love how neat and clean everything is.

In my dream world, all of these cleaning supplies would be color-coordinated, like the tutorial. Haha my husband tells me I’m a nut, but I don’t mind!

THE REFRIGERATOR

Can I just say that cleaning out the fridge is so gross? I feel like I’ve been pretty good about wiping it down every once in a while, but it was still filthy!

I used the same baskets from Target (I’m kind of obsessed, if you couldn’t tell) and I tried to keep it simple. There’s one for cans and leftovers, one for produce, one for cheese and bread, and one for miscellaneous items.





I haven’t figured out what to put in the actual produce drawers. We were kind of low on food when I did this, which honestly made it a lot easier to organize!

STORAGE BINS

I don’t know what to call this project. We have a built-in bookshelf in our living room with open space underneath that I use for storing big stuff. I have one bin for Christmas decorations, one for sheets and linens, one for extra bags/luggage, and one for creative tools, like my laminator and glue gun.

I cleaned out every bin, threw stuff away, and reorganized everything to fit better.

Along with these bins, I organized the bin (I refuse to call them tupperwares) with all my harp music. Which led me to organizing . . .

MY MUSIC

Dun dun dun! This was the most difficult organization task BY FAR. I had binders and books and random copies of music all over the place. They were organized at one time in my life, but not now. Nothing was labeled correctly, all of the sheet protectors were falling apart, it was terrible.

I took everything out, recorded the song titles, composers, and parts (solo, duet, what instruments, etc) and then put them in fresh, new sheet protectors in alphabetical order. I’m honestly so proud of this. I have one binder with Christmas music, and one binder of everything else. Everything is labeled and I have a massive table of contents so I know exactly what each binder contains.




If you have a lot of music, I highly recommend doing this! It has made me eager to practice again and it also helped me feel accomplished because I have so many beautiful songs in my repertoire.

Well, there you have it, folks! Everything I have organized (so far) in 2017. Because I’ve tried to tackle one project every weekend, I feel like my house has stayed a lot cleaner and feels more open and inviting. Here’s what’s left for me to do:

• Under the bed
• The cupboards
• Shelf in the closet

I feel like organizing those spaces won’t be too bad because they’re not food/bathroom areas. I’m excited to see how happy and organized my apartment feels after going through everything and making it new again!

Thanks for reading,

♡♡♡

Rebecca