Welcome to another post in my Fabulous {Organized} Friend Series. In this series I am introducing you to some of my FABULOUS friends. I want to continue to show you that there are many different ways to organize your life. We all have individual lives to manage and we need to make sure that we take into account our personal lives, especially all of the different variables that make up our lives. Rather it be – the size of your family, the amount of work you are responsible for (inside and/or outside of your home), your values, goals, and of course, your natural skills and abilities. This series will give you some different approaches, some fresh techniques and a picture of how different ladies take care of it all!
This month, allow me to introduce you to Sarah A….
I’ve had the privilege of knowing Sarah A. (not to be confused with Sarah K. – who you heard from earlier in this series) for around 14 years. Her husband (Craig or Willee) is someone who I’ve known for as long as I’ve known my hubby, which is now 21 years. (Yikes, that’s a long time.) Which is why I consider them more like family then friends. If I had to give a title to their darling family it would be “nicknames”. They are all about having a nickname for everyone. I’m always affectionately called, “Morg” and I love it.
The Andersons came out to Portugal to visit us in August and we had the best time! Here is their family photo, taken on the beaches of Portugal. Sarah is amazing. She might be one of the most relaxed girls that I know, but at the same time she knows how to get a lot done and is an excellent example of making the most of her life. Sarah is a beautiful person inside and out and is someone whom I admire very much. She is just the sort of person you want to hang out with. You’ll see what I mean…let’s hear how she stays organized!
Give me a snapshot into you and your family. What does your “whole” life look like? Schedule etc…feel free to over share!
Ok, not quite sure how to answer this question, but I will do my best. I have been married for 8 years…….I will be honest I had to look up what year we got married, I lose track!! In my defense we did “date” for WAY too long before we tied the knot!! I have two lovely children. My daughter, Paley is 7 and my son, Sullie is 4. I am so blessed to work 3 days a week as an autism specialist for a school district. I really feel like I get the best of both worlds, time to be their for my family and work in a field that I LOVE (most days) by helping students with unique needs and their families. AND I get all holidays, vacations and summers off with my kids! Because I am passionate about students with autism, I also teach two classes at Portland State University, one on-line in the winter and the other one a hybrid course during the summer.
My daughter is in first grade and being an educator I try to stay involved in her learning. I volunteer in her class 2x a month to keep up with her world. My son goes to pre-k, 1/2 days 3 days a week, so I still get built-in 1:1 time with him. With this schedule, I get Monday afternoons all to myself!! Usually I do what I like to do without my kids like run errands, pedicures or shopping.
I am the type of person that feels more productive when I am busy, so I don’t mind being busy. On my 2 days “off” during the week I usually organize the household, do the grocery shopping and spend quality time with my little guy. I am additionally blessed to have family near by. My MIL is always there to watch my son, when I want to volunteer in my daughters class or for date nights with my hubby. And my mom comes to my house and spends the whole day every week with my kids while I am at work. And the other 2 days I have a nanny I have had since my son was a year old. I have great help and support!
What is your number one organizing tip you would share with other busy moms?
These are hard questions. One thing that comes to mind is I keep an on-line family calendar via google docs and I keep my work calendar separate on my phone. I really like keeping the family/social/athletics calendar on-line so my husband can check the calendar when he has questions about what and where he needs to be on the weekends.
A second thing that comes to mind that really helps me is to tidy up and put things away every evening and get things ready for the morning. This helps cause less stress in the morning for everyone. It also creates good habits for my kids who also have to pitch in before bed.
How do you find time to plan meals and to grocery shop?
I try to do my menu planning on Sundays, but often this doesn’t work out and I plan on Mondays for the week. I usually grocery shop on Monday’s or Tuesday’s. I plan our meals around my work schedule and my husbands traveling. We usually have well-rounded planned out meals on my days off. On Wed. we usually have a quick meal (crock pot or something easy like tacos). Thursday’s we usually have left overs or chicken salad/chicken strips, again something easy and Friday’s is pizza night. We usually make our pizza but sometimes we don’t!
How do your kids help around the home?
My kids are pretty good at picking up after themselves, however this has been a long process of teaching them. And they still need many reminders…..its a process! They are expected to put their shoes away, coats hung in the closet, toys put away at the end of day, the blankets and pillows back nicely on the couch and their rooms picked up before bed.
My daughter, who is 7, is a great example for my son, who is 4. She will often set the table for the family and my son will clear the table. On the weekends they like to help clean the table and windows (although they spray more than they wipe :). My daughter is just now starting to be self-starter at picking up and it has become more automatic for her to put her coat and school items away right when she gets home.
How do you create the time to exercise and take care of your own health?
I have to admit I am good at this one. I am a bit obsessive with exercise as I love the way I feel after a good sweat!! I think of exercise as a double whammy…..good for my mind, spirit and health. Pre-kids……in my past life……I ran a few marathons and did a couple triathlons just for fun. Currently I MAKE time for exercise. I typically manage to do some type of workout everyday. On my work days it just is not possible at times, so if I take a day off it is on my work days. I like to schedule in a workout daily, but vary on the intensity and just listening to my body. On the weekends I do longer workouts and some days it is a quick sweat and a lot of stretching, but I am still making time for myself.
What are some of your secrets to keeping a clean home?
I try to have a system for everything. And then re-evaluate my system if it is not working.
I have bins for each of my children where I file away important school projects, paintings, pictures etc.
I have a shelf in my kitchen that is the homework command center, which has turned out to be a life saver for my first grader’s homework schedule with 3 people chipping in to help with the homework routine.
I also have labeled file bins I use to keep kids important pictures, projects and papers. This has helped me to have a place to put something when I am not ready to part with it. But I find I still need to go through it and purge every so often.
I have a labeled art cart that we keep in our dining room, which has helped tremendously with the art clutter.
I do laundry on my “days off”, along with grocery shopping and menu planning.
In terms of cleaning bathrooms, mopping, vacuuming and dusting we have cleaners who help with this 2x a month.
What are your tools for managing stress and finding time for just you or time for just you and your hubby?
I manage stress by exercise and making alone time with my husband and occasionally spending time with friends. Although the latter two do not happen enough!! My husband is a HUGE football fan so in the Fall, he is otherwise occupied which interrupts our date night flow. But I do find that at least 1x a month going on a date night with my husband helps keep the relationship fresh. I love connecting with friends too….I always get away with girlfriends to the beach 1x a year for a long weekend and we get together about 3x a year for our birthdays. I have found you have to be intentional about spending time with your girlfriends, otherwise it just does not happen….everyone gets too busy! My hubby and I also like to entertain and we frequently have friends over for dinner or football games on the weekends.
What advice would you most like to share with other moms in how they can best live their lives with intention?
Don’t be too hard on yourself…..we are all a work in progress and never do everything just right but we do our best. Try to have balance (easier said then done), have God as your guide and make time for yourself. The season of life you are in will change before you know it. Pray, have faith, and give yourself grace.
I must be getting more and more sappy as I do these beautiful guest posts. I teared up again with what Sarah finished with – “Don’t be too hard on yourself…..we are all a work in progress and never do everything just right but we do our best.” Amen, sister!
On a practical note, I love Sarah’s organizational system that she uses for their calendars. Being synced is a great thing! Then she is totally talking my language with having a system for everything – BUT also the concept of continuing to re-evaluate the system to make sure that the system is working for you! There is no reason to keep systems that don’t work. Go back to the drawing board as many times as you need to.
As you can see Sarah is high energy, motivated and a huge blessing to not only her gorgeous family, but also to the children that she serves via the school district. She models balanced and intentional living beautifully, mostly because like she said – she gives herself grace. I challenge you to do the same, strive for intention along with a huge dose of grace.
Thank you so much Sarah for your time and thoughts, you are an impressive lady and I’m so thankful for your friendship! Come back to visit soon!!! xoxo Morg 🙂
