Now I just have to find a broker to sponsor me until I take my broker’s exam in two years. I’ll work on that next week sometime, because for the next few days I’ll be a little out of commission.

Tomorrow I’m having my knee surgery. The plan is to scope in three places to assess the damage to my meniscus. Depending on how the meniscus looks determines how ‘beautiful’ my knee will look afterwards (a long incision versus three small holes). The ACL will be repaired using parts of my groin or thigh. I’m not at all looking forward to the recovery and the pain afterwards at all, but I am definitely ready to be able to run around and wear heels again. I don’t ask a lot of details about surgery or what they are going to do, as long as they knock me out that can do whatever they would like! I told the doctor to do whatever he needs to do to get me back in shape to ski again next winter.

Sorry it’s been so long since the last post. There’s lots going on around here, but with the real estate exam over, I’ll have a little more free time. I’m hoping to paint a piece of furniture and update you on the progress of my 26 Weeks to an Organized Home series next week. We’re also doing a little vacation planning for our trip this summer to DC and NYC (more on that later). And I’m sure I’ll be back with an update on Thursday or Friday after my surgery with some attractive pictures from the hospital!

Friday night, I was in a bad mood. I was snappy with the hubs and frustrated with myself. I was annoyed with our dogs and I just wanted to go to bed.

The hubs kept asking what was wrong. “Nothing,” I would snap back at him. Obviously…. nothing was wrong. We finally got in bed and he asked one last time. So I laid it out.

I’m sick of our iPhones. I’m sick of my iMac. I’m sick of his iPad and MacBook. I’m sick of always being connected and “in the know” and wondering what new thing is going on in the world that I don’t know about yet. I’m sick of both of us coming home from work, him sitting in his recliner on the MacBook and me sitting at my desktop in the office. I’m sick of cooking dinner, sitting down in the living room to eat and watch TV, then seeing both of us automatically get out our cell phones, whether it’s for Twitter, Facebook or Pinterest. I’m sick of rewinding shows because we missed a funny part because we were too involved in reading a news story.  I’m sick of looking at a sleek computer screen more than my handsome hubby. I’m sick of learning more about what is going on in the world around me than I’ve learned about my husband in the last few weeks. I’m sick of it all. I’m sick of anything that starts with a lowercase “i” and I’m definitely sick of being connected.

I’m also sick of brainlessly browsing the internet and wondering around Pinterest, secretly wishing more people would pin more stuff… because more is better, right? I’m sick of being uninspired while sitting on my ass in front of the newest technology. I’m sick of my eyes burning every night because I couldn’t pull myself away from the computer. I’m sick of my phone dying in the middle of the day because I used my entire data package. I’m just sick of it all.

In the last few weeks, I have been on an internet roller coaster, struggling with time management and balance in my daily life. Some days I don’t check Twitter, then freak out that I may have missed something SOOOO important. Like a new furniture makeover or a great DIY project. I check Facebook a hundred times a day, only to get annoyed with political updates and then I wonder why I even have a Facebook. And as you may have noticed, my blog posts have become a little less frequent. Some days, I wonder why I even have a blog. I wonder what would happen if I never posted again or deleted my blog completely. I wonder if you’re even reading this post, or if you skipped over it because there aren’t any pretty pictures of a perfect life.

So Friday night, after I laid out my “iSickness” for the hubs, we made a plan. A plan to disconnect with technology and to reconnect with each other. A plan to save my sanity and our computers from dying.

When we get home from work, it’s straight to the office to take care of anything that needs to be done work-wise. He’ll grade papers and make phone calls and create lesson plans. I’ll surf Pinterest, study for my real estate exam and work on blog posts. We’ll do all this without the distraction of the TV to prolong the tasks at hand. Only one screen at a time for each of us. Once we are done, we will leave all electronics in the office. The iPhones, the iPad, the iMac and the MacBook. They will stay in the office. We’ll close the door and not worry about them until bedtime.

We’ll move into the kitchen or dining room or living room and reconnect with each other. We’ll cook dinner together, we may even eat at the dining room table, which, in the two years we have been married, we have never done. We’ll watch our TV shows, work on puzzles, talk, play the Wii or whatever we feel like doing. But we will do it without the glare of a Steve Jobs creation in our hands. We will do it without simultaneously reading a news story or worrying about who tweeted what. We may just sit in silence and watch TV with each other, but it will be with each other, and not with the million and one people we are connected to through the internet.

We WILL disconnect from the world each day, and make an effort to reconnect with each other. Because that is what our marriage is about. It’s about US. Me and the hubs. Not me, the hubs and our million internet connections. Not me, the hubs and our iPhones. Just us. Two people. Two people, who may have initially communicated through technology, but who have watched that communication grow into a relationship and then a marriage. I am so ready for this.

This decision also affects my little blog here. For the past few months, I have been working on an overhaul behind the scenes. A new design is ready, but I couldn’t settle on a name. I set out for Two Become One to be a blog for our friends and family to keep up-to-date on our lives from 350 miles away. It has blossomed into something more, although I’m not sure what that is yet. I think I have come up with a new name since writing this post, and I’m excited to start fresh. Kind of like Nish did with Nish Happens. I’m still working out the details and figuring out exactly what I want to do with my little space in the blogosphere, but I won’t be trying to overwhelm myself with posting anymore. Maybe one or two posts a week. Meaningful posts, not just putting something out there to put it out there. We’ll see though. I’ll definitely keep you updated as changes occur. But don’t worry, I’m not disappearing, just taking a step back to breathe and occasionally disconnect from what can sometimes be way to0 overwhelming.

And once I recover from my ACL surgery, I plan to start doing Yoga or Pilates. I hear it helps you relax. I need that. I need to relax.

If you made it to the end of this post, congratulations. And thank you for reading. Now go disconnect, get a breathe of fresh air, and learn something new about someone you love!

So as you can probably guess, I couldn’t stand our kitchen before. Last week I went through and organized and decluttered all the cabinets (non-food containing) and Week 4 of my 26-week plan required me to clean the countertops. Which I did. And it’s so refreshing.

This is all the counter space we have, and making sure it is clear and ready for food prep is very important to my sanity. I used to keep our KitchenAid mixer on the countertop, but this week, I got sick of it and decided to move it to the only cabinet big enough to hold it.

It found a new home under the sink, which is better than where it resided in our last home, which was above the fridge. It is much easier to get out now because picking up heavy things is easier for me than getting them down. I also used to keep our most used CorningWare on the counter, and decided to put it back in the cabinet to help clear the clutter. The boxes in the corner also found new homes last week and the non-decorative wine bottles made their way back to the wine holder in the dining room (next week I’ll explain why it’s important not to leave bottles of wine that you plan on drinking on the countertop).

I also made a few adjustments to the microwave cart, and now I have room to set stuff when I need extra space. The only things left on the cart are the microwave, my fan and a Scentsy. The fan is necessary because our gas stove gets super hot when we cook, and the Scentsy is a must because I’m lazy and don’t clean dishes or take the trash out that often.

I am obsessed with the cleanliness of my blog friend Katy’s kitchen. So much space and so little “stuff!” It’s just beautiful!

And I can’t finish this post without linking up to my decluttering inspiration over at Home Storage Solutions. Be sure to check out more tips and ideas for organizing your countertops and sink. Now I’m off to clean out our pantry cabinets and dive into the mess that is our fridge and freezer!

To see more from our 26 Days to an Organized Home, be sure to check out:
1. Week 1: Family Calendar
2. Week 2: Holiday Decor & Wrapping
3. Week 3: Kitchen Cabients

We have yet to be blessed with a big kitchen or a pantry or even storage for all of our serving pieces. Here is the layout of our kitchen right now. A few more bottom cabinets would actually be all the room we need!

Yes, my kitchen is a mess. And horrifically ugly. But it’ll only be another couple of months before we move again and I can hopefully find a house with a better designed kitchen.

This week I went back through all the cabinets that did not contain food and cleaned and made sure we would use everything we had. I also tried to organize everything the best I could without spending money. It seems that every kitchen has the same issue when it comes to pot/pans. The storage just isn’t efficient enough. Here is what we have…

I’m one of those lucky people that has to pretty much take everything out just to get to one pot or pan. Even better, this is an awkward corner cabinet in which you can only use about 1/3 of the space without crawling in there to get to the back. I did find some fabulous storage solutions on Pinterest though that I will keep in mind for the next house!

Source: designsponge.com via Samantha on Pinterest

Source: between3sisters.com via Samantha on Pinterest

Source: kevinandamanda.com via Samantha on Pinterest

Source: clippings.gardenweb.com via Samantha on Pinterest

Home Storage Solutions has a great post about organizing your kitchen cabinets, with lots of detail on what to keep and get rid of, how to organize your stuff according to how often you use it and even has suggestions about different organizers to help you get on the right track.

Our cabinets and drawers are all pretty small, and our budget right now is focused more on vacation then organizers for the kitchen, so using what we had we organized everything the best we could. My favorite cabinet is by far our dishes. Mostly because they are colorful and pretty. And Fiestaware (which I’m obsessed with).

We keep the extra set of white dishes for things like Christmas and when we have more than eight people over. And for when I am too lazy to wash dishes and we run out of the blue ones.

I could show you the inside of each drawer and cabinet, but I’ll spare you the agony. Have you come up with a functional way to organize your kitchen? How did you tackle the pots & pans issue?

To see more from our 26 Days to an Organized Home, be sure to check out:
1. Week 1: Family Calendar
2. Week 2: Holiday Decor & Wrapping

Since the holidays just ended, I wanted to be sure we hit holiday decor and gift wrapping pretty quickly, mostly since it was all still out. Why not organize as you put stuff away, right?

We’ll start with gift wrapping.

• Separate all your supplies into different piles. For me, Christmas and Other (Birthday, Wedding, Baby) were my categories. You can divide your gift wrapping into more categories if you want, separating birthday-, wedding- and baby-themed items into their own piles.

Christmas Wrapping Supplies

Birthday, Wedding & Baby Wrapping Supplies

• Get rid of any supplies you think you may not need or use again. For me, it was essential to get rid of bags that were crumbled, wrapping paper that was torn, tissue paper that had been used too much and bows that were smushed. I also got rid of bags that I didn’t like because I’m pretty picky when it comes to stuff like that.
• Once you declutter and clean everything, choose your method of organization. I chose to use bins because right now, the best place for storage for me is under the bed.
• I laid my wrapping paper rolls at the bottom of my bins, organized my boxes by size and lay them on one side on top of the paper then put bags and tissue paper on the other side.

• Bows, gift tags and ribbons got their own little bin so I could easily access them and so the bows wouldn’t get smashed by all the other supplies.

• In the end, I was left with two under-the-bed storage bins and four rolls of wrapping paper that were longer than normal. Those I just slid in between my two bins once they were under the bed.

Some other gift wrapping storage ideas I’m loving include this behind-the-door storage from Stefanie at Brooklyn Limestone…

Source: brooklynlimestone.com via Samantha on Pinterest

and this pegboard organization station from Delightful Order…

Source: delightfulorder.blogspot.com via Samantha on Pinterest

and this hamper turned gift wrap station from Home Made Simple.

Source: homemadesimple.com via Samantha on Pinterest

I also really like this cart from The Container Store, but I think it can be DIYed for a little cheaper with a different type of cart and some supplies from the hardware store.

Source: containerstore.com via Samantha on Pinterest

Next I organized all of our holiday decorations, including all of our fall/Halloween/Thanksgiving decor. I followed the same process… first I divided out the decorations into holiday then went through and donated any decorations that we haven’t used in the last two years. Since we keep moving houses and our space to decorate changes a little with each house, I kept things I knew I would use in the future. After dividing and determining what to keep and what to donate, I used bins that we previously stored everything in and repacked them.

With my Silhouette, I made some really cheesy labels because I didn’t want to spend that long on them. We store all of our bins in the laundry/utility room on a shelving unit we bought at Home Depot.

In the black bag between the bins are all of our wreaths. Super fancy, I know! I didn’t feel like spending money on special wreath containers, plus I would have needed about six of them, and a trash bag works just fine for me! One day, we will have an attic where I can have a little more room to organize and store stuff, but until then, this shelf works perfectly.

For more ideas and suggestions about organizing your gift wrapping supplies and holiday decor, be sure to check out my inspiration posts here and here from Home Storage Solutions.

To see more from our 26 Days to an Organized Home, be sure to check out:
1. Week 1: Family Calendar