Amy's Corner

Welcome to all of our new subscribers! We are so glad that you joined our mailing list and we hope that the site and our newsletter are beneficial to your family.

Each month our site will be focusing on a particular subject that we feel will interest our readers. This month we will be discussing ways that you can stay organized and information for completing your spring cleaning.

There are people in my life that seem to be naturals at staying organized & keeping up with their homes….I admire those people. Then there are people like myself who seem to have a harder time keeping up with things like this. You see, I have every intention of staying on task & being organized, but for me it just doesn’t seem to come naturally….I really have to work at it.

I have learned a lot about myself though and have realized that the “good enough” philosophy will have to work for our family for right now. With two kids under three I am proud of myself if I complete the basic tasks of making beds & doing dishes.  The expectations that I have for myself are now a bit more realistic and I realize that the most important thing in my life is my children- NOT my housework.

Try to enjoy the tips and ideas for organizing your home, but be realistic!!! Give yourself credit for accomplishing the basics and all of the other stuff is just fluff!

As always, we welcome your feedback and we are always looking for new topics to discuss in our future issues so feel free to email me and let us know what you think.

Organize Your Home Office

It can be a real challenge as a work at home parent to maintain an organized home office. Many times, the office or desktop is the last of our worries as we strive to raise our children, support our spouses and run our home-based business. However, keeping up with the clutter and chaos of your office may be just what you need to get you in a working mindset and help you to be more efficient while working.
There a few simple things that you can do on a regular basis that will help to de-stress organizing process:

• Address your home office/desktop chaos in blocks of time. You may need to set aside just a few hours, or you may need an entire day. Decide what will work for you and stick to it. If it’s not possible for you to set aside a block of time, consider using a headset while you are on the phone and be de-cluttering, too!
• Have the necessities on hand: a trash can, pen, file folders, mail baskets and other organization items that will enable you to sort, throw out and find a place for each item. Envision your goal and purchase the supplies necessary to create that environment.
• Clear the space you want to organize (the desk surface, one of the drawers, etc.). Then make a pile of all the paper. Begin to evaluate each piece of paper, sorting it by importance. Throw out as much as possible and find a place for each of the other items.
• If you start to feel stressed, take a break. Make a goal of how far you’d like to get during the time you have available and set an incentive for yourself if you reach your goal. It’s always easier to complete a task when you know you’ll be rewarded.

Once you’ve organized your office, it’s important to take small steps everyday to keep the room clean and tidy. It’s very easy to fall back into the routine of piling things on your desktop and around the room. There are five simple tasks that you can do daily to help maintain your organized space:

1. Clean out your “Inbox”. In today’s world this can apply to postal mail or email. Create a special basket for postal mail that needs to be taken care of right away, and another for items that can wait a day or two. To keep your email inbox under control, create folders within your email program. Keep what needs to be done immediately in your inbox and distributed the rest into your folders. You can also use "rules" to help separate email and make it easier to manage.
2. Make sure all notes are transferred to your calendar, palm pilot or day planner. It is very easy to pile up a desktop full of paper by writing every note on a Post-it. You can also create an “Idea Book” to catalog all of your business ideas for future reference.
3. Remove all mail, catalogs & magazines from your desk. Put them in their proper place as you receive them. This will considerably cut down the amount of clutter on your desktop.
4. File as you go. This is the most basic and most important tip of all. If you file as you go your records will be in order, your desktop will be clear and you will feel like a professional.
5. Clean off your desktop each evening. There's nothing better than sitting down at a clean workspace each morning. It helps to keep your mind focused on your business and makes finding important documents a snap.

By following these easy guidelines you will have a clean and organized home office in no time. Having a clutter-free workspace is the first step in creating an organized and professional home-based business.

Jill Hart is the author of the e-book, 2 Weeks Devotional Journey for Christian Work at Home Moms, and the founder and editor of Christian Work at Home Moms, CWAHM.com. This site is dedicated to providing work at home moms with opportunities to promote their businesses while at the same time providing them spiritual encouragement and articles. E-mail Jill at jill@cwahm.com for additional information or stop by her site at CWAHM.com.

10 Spring Cleaning Tips For Your Kitchen

The words "spring cleaning" can make the neatest person cringe. They mean more work. As if cleaning all year long wasn't enough. Spring cleaning is more than just cleaning...it is deep cleaning. Something that most people do not have time for all year long. Since my expertise is cooking, I have decided to focus on spring cleaning and dirt build up prevention tips for the kitchen....

Baking soda or club soda will clean and shine stainless steel sinks easily. Simply apply directly to surface and scrub a dub dub.

To Remove stubborn water spots from a stainless sink scrub with a cloth dampened with rubbing alcohol or vinegar.

To freshen up your "white" porcelain sinks, place paper towels across the bottom of your sink and saturate with bleach. Let sit over night and rinse.

After you've cleaned your refrigerator and freezer place an open box of baking soda in the back of each to help absorb odors for about a month.

A few drops vanilla extract on a piece of cotton placed in the refrigerator will also help eliminate odors.

Wipe refrigerator with vinegar after cleaning to help prevent mildew.

Change your refrigerator light bulbs...that way you never have to worry about them burning out during the year.

To clean baked-on food from a cooking pan, put a dryer sheet in the pan, fill with water, let sit overnight then sponge clean. The anti-static agents help weaken the bond between the food and the pan and the fabric softeners will soften the baked-on food.

To clean burnt or scorched pans, sprinkle pans liberally with baking soda, adding just enough water to moisten. Let stand over night.

To get those stubborn stains off of the inside of you microwave; spray liberally with two parts water and one part bleach, heat on high for 20 seconds and let stand for about an hour. The stains should come right off. For really stubborn stains heat for 30 seconds and let sit for 2 - 3 hours.

About the Author: My name is Lara Velez and I am the Editor-in-Chief of The Recipe Finder - Online cooking magazine. I am also a wife and mother of two. I enjoy cooking, reading, scrapbooking, and being a wife and mom. Please feel free to email me any time: RecipeFinderMail@aol.com