To the Shoes

I'm continuing to blog daily about my progress on my 30 before 30 list as well as Flylady's Beginner Baby Steps.

Day 2: Get dressed to "Lace-up" Shoes

"Today I want you get up and get dressed to lace up shoes when you first get up in the morning. This means fix your hair and face too. Shine your sink before you go to bed."

So, here's the deal. The whole "lace-up" shoes is more about SAHM's who are more prone to throw on flip flops, or slippers as opposed to "real" shoes. You can read the whole reasoning here. For me, this isn't about wearing "lace-up" shoes. It's about caring enough about myself and my presentation to put my best foot forward.

I have to make a painful admission right here and right now. I don't take very good care of myself. I don't bathe enough, I hardly ever style my hair, and I usually just throw on whatever is clean with a pair of flip flops. I'm sloppy eventhough that's not the way I want to be. I've just kind of given up on trying.

So, I woke up determined to complete this babystep. And it didn't come easy. First of all, I spent way too much time in the shower (which reminded me that I've always preferred to shower at night instead). So I felt rushed to fix my hair which led to a big hair meltdown- and I ended up pulling it half back with my bangs swept off my face, but I think it still counts as "fixed". Then I started getting dressed, only to find that my sweater was missing a button. Not to be deterred, I quickly whipped out the replacement button and sewed it on. That didn't leave my any time to fix my face, but the fact that it was clean was good enough for me. I was so relieved that I had Havie snap a picture before I ran out the door.

So, I had the nerve to be embarrassed about this picture for about two seconds when my brain said "Hold UP." This is a million times better than I look most days. Sure, I could look better, but I've got to stop beating myself up so much! I love this sweater that I got before my trip to Utah. I was so excited to get to wear is in SOUTH TEXAS and it matches my gray shoes! I honestly felt great and I think it showed because I got lots of compliments.

The hubs made dinner tonight because we had missionaries coming over for a lesson at 7pm. So, when I got home, I got to work on straightening the house. Dinner was ready by 6pm and we were done eating by 6:30pm... And this is what the kitchen looked like:

The hubs doesn't believe in cleaning as he cooks- lol. That's ok because clean-up was a breeze! I had the dishes loaded and the sink shined in record time. By 6:45, I was sitting down and relaxing waiting for the Elders to show!

I didn't have to do the whole shiny sink ritual again, just cleaned the sink out with the remaining dish soap on the sponge and rinsed it well. Then dried it with the towel we had been using all day. Then I Windexed the whole thing and voila! Shiny Sink!

I've gotta say- having a clean kitchen makes me really happy. I don't want to make myself seem shallow. It's not like that. It's more about feeling a sense of accomplishment. For so long, I couldn't figure out how to make any part of my home presentable. I still have a long way to go, but this is a really good start for me.

P.S. I listened to music for over an hour today in bits and pieces and I've gotta say that it made me really happy. I need to remember this! The not watching tv for more than an hour is going to be harder simply because the hubs ALWAYS has it on. Going to have to work on that.