31 Days to Clean, part 5 (of 5)...

It's not too late to start, if you are interested in the 31 Days To Clean Challenge.  The blog info is here and the 31 Days To Clean: Having a Martha House the Mary Way e-book can be found here.  You can start anytime, do it any way you want to, there aren't rigid rules... don't be intimidated.  There's also a helpful and encouraging forum, as well as twitter friends at the #31daystoclean hashtag!

Day 27 - I've got several boxes and bags ready for Goodwill - clothes, dishes, random trinkets, etc.  It will feel so nice to have that extra stuff out of the way.  And hopefully someone else can find it useful!  The remaining Martha Challenges have to do with the utility room.  Well, mine is teeny-tiny, only enough room for the washer, dryer and to walk through to the garage.  So, I scrubbed down the machines and cleaned the floor (except under, unfortunately).  That's really about all I can do in there.  I could tackle the two shelves, but honestly... there's not much hope for those, no other place for that stuff, so... I'm done with that!

Day 28 - I think my biggest area of guilt is the bathroom.  Ok, bathrooms.  I tend to let them go a little longer than they should.  I love, adore, cherish my giant bathtub... but I don't take care of it as I should.  I also tend to shed... BAD!  And the floor of my bathroom gets... hairy.  Gross! I know, sorry.  I go too long without sweeping up the hair.  So, I feel guilty about that.  I am really the only one that uses the master bathroom, I think that's why I don't give it more attention.  But I know my husband walks through there to get to the closet on occasion, and then I'm all "Oh no, don't look!"  Definitely planning to give it more attention from here on out!

• Getting off easy for the last 4 days of #31daystoclean, don't have much of a utility room!
• RT @sarahmaewrites: @heyjade slacker. ;) #31daystoclean // Thinking it's a bad sign when the author of the book calls you a "slacker." Ha!

Day 29 - I am certainly thankful for my "maids" - a.k.a. the dishwasher, the clothes washer, the dryer, the heavy duty vacuum, and the Swiffer.  I don't think I could even get out of bed if these things weren't readily available to me.  I can't afford a maid, so I am definitely thankful for these things that make my life so much easier!  Again, since I finished up cleaning the utility room on Friday, today I hit the hall closet.  It wasn't as bad as it could be (I've cleaned it a few times in the recently past) so it only took me a few minutes to clear out some stuff and rearrange it so that everything fit nicely.  No big deal today!

Day 30 - Coming up with 10 things I am thankful for took less than half a second.  I am so incredibly blessed.  Much more than I deserve that's for sure!  That's the beauty of God's grace... we don't have to earn our blessings!

1. My husband.
2. My Preston.
3. My Callen.
4. My parents.
5. My in-laws.
6. My home.
7. Our car.
8. Michael's jobs.
9. Freedom.
10. My Savior.

Yeah, they probably seem cliche, but I mean it.  My family is the best... so supportive and precious.  Living off of one income this past year has helped me realize how blessed we are that we have a house and our one car, and that Michael is able to work two jobs to make ends meet.  Our freedom in this country to worship and live as we please.  We can homeschool here in Texas with no harassment, I can't take that for granted!  And obviously, I am thankful for a God that sent His Son to die in my place, so that I could be here, now, living this very life.  Indeed, it doesn't hurt to take some time thanking HIM for all these things!  Even when you don't have much by the world's standards, you have SOMETHING to be thankful for.  Remember that!


Day 31 - I love the challenges for today - rest and enjoy life!  I can do that!  If only Callen hadn't been up all nite and spent most of the morning crying his face off!  But, it seems to have passed, so I think we can make a go at the rest of the day.  Make it a good one!

* Challenge Complete! *

Final thoughts: 
I loved this month-long challenge.  It really got me moving.  I don't think I would have really gotten around to doing some of this stuff... ever.  I have to say that having other people to tweet at, talk to and blog hop around with truly motivated me.  I guess I kind of felt that I was the only one not keeping my house up.  I'm glad to know that I'm not alone, and there are so many others out there just like me!  Thanks to Christin at JoyfulMothering.net for hosting this challenge.  Thanks to Sarah Mae for writing such a fabulous e-book that not only inspired me to clean my home, but to dig down deep and think about the reason WHY I should keep my home clean!  And thanks to all the others out there that took part in this challenge this time around for helping me get this done!  I pray you all enjoyed it, and learned from it, as much as I did!  Now, let's keep our homes clean from now on, ok?  Otherwise, I'll see ya in a month or two when we all have to do this over again!  =)

P.S. Looking forward to helping Sarah Mae kick off a new set of challenges.  She's using some of us as a focus group to see how they work.  Totally pumped about it!  Starts Monday!