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Lyn Vicknair
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Finding and Setting Priorities as a New Mom /// GUEST POST

Congratulations! I’m guessing you either just had or are soon having a new baby! Being a new mom is quite the adventure but really is worth all of the sleepless nights and tears (from you and the baby). No matter what, you will never really be fully prepared as a new mom, I’ve done the baby thing twice now and even the second time there were things I wasn’t prepared for.

That being said, one of the biggest things you can do to give yourself a head start of sorts when you bring that baby home is to have set priorities.

What are priorities?

A priority is something that is important to you, something that you want to focus on and that helps to guide your decision making.

As a new mom your priorities will probably include: baby, yourself, your husband, your other children...and that’s probably it for the first few weeks.

I encourage you to make it a priority not to have priorities as a brand new mom. Give yourself a few weeks to adjust and to get the hang of the whole being a mom thing. The timeline I always tell people to go by is that 6 week mark, don’t worry about losing the baby weight, working, or attempting to keep up with housework until baby is 6 weeks old. Our culture has kind of made that the standard “okay it’s time to come back to the world” mark and for the most part I agree with that but it’s okay if it takes you longer to adjust. Everyone is different. I also have a post about why it’s okay not to be okay after six weeks.

Once you’re ready to come back to the surface and do life again, that’s when it’s time to really focus on those other priorities. (P.S. If you are really stuck in that postpartum fog, I have a great post on hope for when you don’t feel like yourself postpartum)

How To Find Your Priorities

Finding what is most important to you may seem like a “duh” thing but once you start writing down all of the things that are important to you, that list could go on for quite awhile.

I like to focus on a few key areas when finding priorities. List out two or three things in each category, that you really want to focus on.

Priority Areas:

> Personal Growth + Career: This are includes any goals you have in your career or in a hobby that you’d like to monetize as well as continuing your education or growing as a person.

> Health: Part of living a joyful lifestyle, is living a healthy lifestyle so make your health a priority. It may be important to you to lose that baby weight or to follow the 80/20 rule with your meals, or maybe you just want to make it a priority to go for regular walks.

> Relationships: This includes relationships with your family, friends, husband, and children.

> Faith/Spiritual Life: For me, my relationship with Jesus is a priority in my life. Whatever your spiritual life includes, making it a priority will help you to keep your other priorities in line.

In my course The Stay-at-Home Mom’s Guide I have a brief section on priorities but then we really dig deep into building a family mission statement which will really help you to keep your entire family’s priorities in line. Check out the course here and if it’s a good fit for you, use the code “MOMLIFE” to get $5 off!

How To Stick To Your Priorities

If you’re like me, you may set New Year’s intentions and then forget about them a month later. I have a few things that I recommend you do to make sure you stick to your priorities.

  1. Write your priorities down and put them somewhere where you will see them regularly.
  2. Create action steps, or things to do to accomplish each priority.
  3. Find someone to keep you accountable. I have an awesome group of mamas + homemakers on Facebook and you may be able to find an accountability partner in there!

Now, go! Go enjoy your new baby and take some time to just chill. Or if your baby is a few weeks old, start working on those priorities to get started on a joyful, intentional lifestyle!

Abby Barstow is the creative behind Joyful Homemaker’s Club. She blogs about joy, Jesus, and intentional living for homemakers, basically she provides homemakers with all of the tools they need to live a joyful, faith-based, intentional lifestyle. When she’s not blogging she’s probably watching way too much TV or eating. Or both. You can learn more about Abby here. You can also find her on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest.

GUEST POST: Easy ways to fake a clean house in less than 30 minutes by Emma Hamilton

Emma reached out to me with this post, and I found it super helpful. This time of year, sometimes the best you can do is "fake it" when it comes to a clean house if you are lazy like I am, so thanks again Emma!

Whether you are expecting guests or just want your house to look clean, you can use the tips presented below. There are easy ways to fake a clean house in less than 30 minutes which you will learn in this article. You just need to focus on the obvious and visible areas to clean them and hide the rest. Decluttering and throwing away will help you achieve the results you seek. Check out these effective ideas which will make your home look great without long time spent in cleaning work. 

IMAGE VIA PEXELS.COM

IMAGE VIA PEXELS.COM

In the bathroom you can check expired products and throw them away. Supply the essentials - a soap, clean towel for hands, toothbrushes and others. After you toss the unnecessary items with expired dates you will have less mess and more space in the bathroom cabinets. Now that you have taken care of the bathroom you can move to the living room. 

In the living room use a microfibre cloth to wipe the coffee table and all the cabinets and pieces of furniture. Focus on the items which are most visible and create the focal point in this room. Clean them first. Gather all magazines in one place and put them at the end of the table or on the cupboard. Put the pillows and chair cushions on their places to make the room look cosy and neat. 

Wash the hard and tiled floors in the lounge, bedrooms, hallway and the other areas the fast and easy way – using a microfibre mop. Slightly damp it and go through every room that allows it and the floors will be cleaned. 

Remove pet fur and hairs from the upholstered furniture using a pair of rubber gloves. They are very effective in attracting hairs and fur in an easy and fast way. Just run your hands onto the areas and they will stick onto the gloves. For a better effect you can slightly dampen the rubber gloves. In the end, rinse and let them dry.

Remove clutter and too many items from the hallway and rooms. Use a laundry basket, any storage bin or containers you have. Use shopping bags to store items like hats, scarves, gloves and others in one bag. In the other you can put the mail, accessories and small items which are cluttering your home. Designate each bag for certain type of items. Put the bags in the basket or bin you have and store them temporarily there. This will make your hallway and home less messy and untidy. 

Vacuum the carpets in the living room and the rest of the rooms. It won’t take you too much time and make them visibly cleaner. Rug and carpet cleaning Clapham recommends to do the vacuum cleaning moving from room to room. This way the cleaning will take you less time and you will be finished with it once and for all. 

Once you clean as much as you can, you can check each room in your house and see if there are any unnecessary items piling and making the place look smaller. Gather all items you don’t like, use or are damaged. Just pick the items and put them in any bag or container you have. Later you can take the time to separate them into three more groups. One of them should be for throwing away, the other – for selling and the third - for giving away. Decide how to deal with each of your possessions to free more space in the rooms. 

Using the presented here tips and ideas you can fake a clean house for less than 30 minutes and make your home look better. Take the time for decluttering and tidying and some more time for the cleaning to make your house look presentable. 

Creative ways to fill a blank wall /// GUEST POST

Redecorating your home is a great idea during all parts of the year. In order to revitalise the interiors of your house, however, you don’t have to break the bank but just to find the right ideas. The secret of the interesting and fresh home design is hiding in the combinations of colour, the style of the mirrors and the other decorative elements you add to the rooms. Even the simple hanging of a picture on one of the blank walls in your home can change the look of the entire room. The truth is that there are many creative ways you can freshen up your home without even spending a lot of money and we will present some of them to you in this article.

 

A blank wall can make any room look incomplete. Even if you paint it in a bright colour that combines great with the other objects in the place, the design of the room won't look complete until you add some interesting elements. You can use them to cover the blank walls in your home and make different fresh combinations. This way you will be able to create an unique style in every room in your home.

This is your chance to get creative and renovate your home with little money and a lot of great ideas. Here are some useful tips that might help:

Mirrors

The mirror is a classic and you should definitely consider it during the renovation of your home. Even one simple mirror could drastically change the look of the room you want to renovate, making it look more stylish and bright. The important thing is to pick a model with a beautiful frame which will be suitable for the size of the blank wall. It is not even necessary to buy it from an expensive store. You can take one from a friend or purchase a mirror on the Internet for a great price.

Baskets in different colours

This is a very fresh and interesting idea which you will definitely like. If you truly want to brighten up the look of your bedroom, living room or another room in your real estate property, you need only a couple of baskets in different colours. You can look for woven baskets or you can make your own unique models yourself. For the purpose, you will have to buy several plain baskets and craft paint. When you are done painting, you can leave the baskets to dry before you hang them on the wall.

Crates in bright colours

You can look for some small crates, which you can later clean and paint in various bright colours or ask professionals like HomeMates Builders to do that. When the paint dries out, you can hang them on your wall. This is a great idea because you will not only freshen up the look of the room, but you can also use the crates as shelves where you can put books and other things you like.

Signs

Vintage signs, posters and all sorts of other similar objects will make a great addition to the interior design of any room in your home. Remember, however, to get a sign which is suitable for the size of the blank wall you want to cover. Also, make sure that you get a sign that you love because you will have to watch it every day.

 

There are many creative ways you can freshen up the look of every part of your home. Every renovation, however, requires cleaning afterwards. So, this will be the perfect time to clean out your closets, organise your drawers and get some clutter out of your life.

This post is by Anna Aamone. I want to thank her for contributing to Lazy Lady!