The Uncluttered Lifestyle

2016 Calendar and Planner Printables

2015-09-14T12:30:00.002-07:00

For those that may be wondering... yes there will be a fresh set of 2016 calendars and planner printables released despite my hiatus. Launch date is set for October 1st!

See you soon...

Hiatus

2015-08-05T10:47:00.001-07:00

Hello my good folks.

If you read my last post, you know that I'm going through a mental transition of sorts. Originally, I considered taking down the blog and deleting most of my profiles from social media. Instead I will be taking a hiatus from most avenues of social media.

I say most because I'm still a Pinterest junkie and like to peruse Instagram but outside of those two platforms, I'm checking out.

... Till next time

A Blessing and A Curse... I Didn't Ask For

2015-07-26T22:50:00.002-07:00

WARNING: This is a far cry from my typical post. Today, I'm going to let you into my life a little, let you know more about the woman behind the blog. Let you in on some of the things that plague this ole' mind of mine, let's call it venting. So, if you're here to read a post strictly about uncluttering your home or planner printables, you may want to exit stage left.

Thanks for visiting.

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It seems as though lately my fuse has been quite short when it comes to certain subjects, one subject in particular that has been consistently sending me over the edge is my looks.

For instance, recently someone pointed to my stomach and said, “I remember when that was tighter.” That comment was quickly followed by the fake question, “You haven’t been taking care of yourself, have you?" On another day, a co-worker stated to me, 'I figured you would wear the shirt that says, "Are You Loaded" because you want to know if they have a lot of money." Basically inferring that I look like a gold-digger. Discussing the exchange with another co-worker she said, "Just take it as a compliment because gold-diggers are normally pretty." Um... so yeah... thankfully in both cases I kept my cool.

One would think that I would be used to hearing statements such as these since I dabbled in modeling as a young woman. Being an African American woman, I have been blessed with fuller hips and a round bottom. The amount of times these ears have heard the words “needs to diet, lose the booty, too thick, or she cant’ fit the sample size” is immeasurable. And I can not tell you the amount of times it was assumed that I only wanted the guys that drove nice cars or that could buy me things. But this time it was different, the statements stood out… why? Let me give you some backstory…

Since I can remember, I have always been the pretty face. Some of you may be thinking, “Awe poor thing, that’s such a terrible problem to have. I wouldn’t mind having that problem.” When I was a teenager and on into my twenties I didn’t see it as a problem either. Honestly, there were times I enjoyed the attention that came along with being the pretty face, which is why I dabbled in modeling.

However, in playing out my role as “the pretty face” I discovered that having this face brought a lot of hatred and/or envy my way. Wanting everyone to be comfortable and to have “genuine friends,” I also fell into the role of being a people pleaser. How so? As I interacted with people, I found that if I wanted to be accepted there was a limit to how pretty I could be but at the same time there was a level of expectation for how pretty I should be. Not wanting to feel left out or have anyone hate me I fit myself in everyone else’s box for me. I found that most did not care to truly know more about me than what they saw staring back at them. I found that they often assumed there was no depth to me or that I was conceited because of how I looked. I found that they had no real interest in what I thought, felt, or wanted; I was there to add some pretty to the room. So I gave them what they wanted, a measured level of pretty and someone to conform to their wishes and listen to their demands.

All of this has led to me being a woman that is hidden behind the face that everyone wants to see and not hear. A woman that has an uncanny ability to suppress her feelings so much so that many people think she has none.

Which takes me back to my opening statements… as the years have rolled by things have not changed much, I am still known as the pretty face. I am still expected to stay within this certain box of pretty. I have people that I love dearly that after introducing me to someone new say “Isn’t she pretty?” In the back of mind I think, is that all you recognize me for? In the past three years have I not shown that there is more to me? Am I not kind? Sweet? Caring? Loving? Anything… anything other than pretty? Do they feel that its something that I wish to hear? Or have I been in my box so long that I haven’t allowed anyone to see that there’s more to me?

As I contemplate the answer to my own questions, I am reminded of the words to Beyonce’s song Pretty Hurts. In that song she sings:

Ain’t got no doctor or pill that can take the pain away

The pains inside and nobody frees you from your body

It’s the soul, it’s the soul that needs surgery

It’s my soul that needs surgery

Plastic smiles and denial can only take you so far

Then you break when the fake façade leaves you in the dark

You’re left with shattered mirrors and the shards of a beautiful girl

She concludes the song by twice asking the question, “Are you happy with yourself?”

As a mature woman, I answer that question for myself, in the quiet of my alone time, releasing the façade everyone else desires to see and being real with myself freed from the confines of my box, my answer is a firm no.

It’s a no not because I am shallow and have relied on my looks to get by. Not because I have no other interests beyond beauty. It’s a no because I have allowed myself to be put in a box. It’s a no because I felt that I needed to please others and seek their acceptance to be happy. It’s because I lacked the confidence to stand on my own and freely show everyone the woman that I really am. It’s because I’ve allowed them to dim my light…

This is not the end of my journey; I’m just the beginning. I am determined to emerge a strong woman showing that my happiness starts from within and others that are allowed to stay in my life can only enhance that happiness.

Cleaning Out My Closet For Spring

2015-04-01T08:35:00.002-07:00

A few weeks ago I shared a couple of photos, on Instagram, hinting that I was in the middle of spring cleaning my main closet and switching out fall/winter clothes for spring/summer clothes. I figured I'd share the end result with you today.

The first thing I did was empty out the closet and clean it, making sure to get all the dust bunnies to vacate the premises. Then I went through and separated out the cold weather clothes. Lets be honest. I live in the Central Valley California, other than a few thick sweaters, scarves, and a few pairs of boots, there's not much to my cold weather clothing. But I did remove the darker colored clothes from the closet and added in my brighter clothes.

While I was at it I went through everything and made piles for donation and trash. The trash pile is on the left and the donations are on the right.

Then it was time to store away my winter clothes.

I use two canvas bags that slide under the bed to store everything and the packing paper is to stuff my boots.

This is why I had packing paper for my boots. If I were to store my boots like this until next winter they would be disfigured when I pull them out.

So after they are cleaned I stuff to maintain their original shape. Now they are ready for the summertime slumber.

Here they are all packed and ready for storage under the bed.

Now lets look at the cleaned out closet.

The top box contains a few hats and the bottom box has my bikinis and beach coverups.

I need to replenish my supply, I got rid of 6 pairs of shoes

The left side is so hard to photograph.

Flip flops are just waiting to make a reappearance for 2015.

While I was at I decided to tidy up my dresser drawers too. Top drawer has my undergarments and sleepwear.

Middle drawer has t-shirts, tank tops and lightweight sweaters.

Bottom drawer has all my workout gear.

Side note: Did anyone else notice the abnormal amount of black or black and white I have in my wardrobe? Seriously people it's an obsession, I need therapy. I think it comes from my modeling days when the mentality was, "black makes you look thin." But I have friend that's a personal shopper and she's been working with me on adding splashes of color through my shirts and scarves.

Anyway I digress... have you done any spring cleaning yet?

A Quick Revisit To The Master Bedroom

2015-03-27T11:40:00.000-07:00

Good day all!

It seems that as of late I have been all consumed with everything related to planners (hopefully you don't mind too much) but I thought it was time to get back our regularly scheduled program. What better way to do that than by revisiting one of my previous post. I thought I would share the place where I lay my head at night, the master bedroom, with you since I have a few new followers that may not have seen the space.

There are so many elements in this room that I love, I would be hard pressed to narrow it down to one thing. The room is filled with little moments that make me smile before turning off the lights and closing my eyes at night. All the personal touches that represent everything that's important to us.

Because we all lead very busy lives, I've tried to keep the feel of the room very tranquil, using shades of white, cream, brown, and accents of turquoise. On the bed, I only use white or ivory sheets to keep with the spa-like feeling. I love pulling back the comforter and crawling between the sheets and feeling the cold crisp sheets against my skin. There's nothing I look forward to more than getting into my bed, made with a set freshly laundered sheets, and falling asleep.

Since, spring is now here and it's time to switch out our winter bedding for the summer bedding, I'm thinking of getting a new set of sheets for the warmer weather. Honestly, I'm always on the hunt for quality bedding because this Cal-King of ours is not cheap to outfit. Lately, I've been perusing Parachute bedding looking for our next set. I have spied a few on there that I can't wait to take for a test drive. I'll let you know how it goes. May the odds be ever in my favor!

Till next time...

Planner Series Part 2 and New Planner Layout!!!!

2015-03-12T09:31:00.004-07:00

Good day to ya! I'm back with part 2 of my planner series. This video will take you into the last three planners I use, my everyday planner, my blog planner, and spiritual planner; which is more of a journal.

Enjoy the video!

But before I let you go, I had been hinting that I was working on a new 2015 planner layout on my Instagram account and today it's finally available for download. It's just so sweet and girly, truly my favorite layout to date. Let's call it my 2015 Ribbon Planner. Starting with the month of March, since January and February are long gone, the monthly view keeps the same layout including the love quotes at the bottom. However, this planner features softer pastel colors and more "white space" than my last planner, which will save ink for those of us printing at home.

The week on two pages view has a completely different layout with the days of the week typed into multi-colored hearts. But it also featuring more "white space" for us to save ink at home. Eeek! I just love it!

{Click here to download - 5.5 x 8.5}
{Click here to download - A5 Size}

Let me know how you like it.

Till next time...

Planner Series Part 1: Family Planner

2015-03-10T18:37:00.000-07:00

Good evening everyone. I'm back this evening with a new video for you.
Since the release of my 2015 Planner, I've gotten a few requests to see how I put my printables to work in my day-to-day life.

Instead of trying to explain it through a series of photos, I figured it would be easier to record a video and take you on a tour of my planners. Yes planners, as in multiple... I actually use four of them. Again yes, you read that correctly. I use four planners, each serving a different purpose, as you will see in the videos. I had to break it up into two videos because I was being all Chatty-Kathy in the original.

Hope you enjoy!

Till next time...

I Have A Growing Addiction and Fitting Into A Size A5

2015-02-19T10:20:00.002-08:00

Hello All. I'm here with a confession for you today. Yes, as the title of the post today says, I have a growing addiction. The sad part about it... I have no desire to stop the addiction. Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram are all enabling me to feed my addiction. Now, if you follow me on Instagram, you may already know what my growing addiction is. If not, let me give you a hint.

And my last hint for you, a sneak peek at my desk.

Can you guess now? I have discovered the whole planner community and the love of decorating your planner. Let me tell you, it is so addicting. Everything is so pretty and girly and pleasing to the eye. You almost can help but to want to make your planner look pretty too. And since I create and offer printable planners on my blog, it was just a matter of time before I discovered this community. I'm just surprised I didn't find them sooner! Why didn't you guys find me first!!!!

As I've been perusing all the pretty pictures, I've noticed that a large part of the community uses the Filofax system, specifically the A5 size. So guess what... I'm please to let you know that the 2015 Uncluttered Lifestyle Planner can now be downloaded in a compatible A5 size.

Yes, that's right, I didn't want to anyone to feel left out!

NEW!!! [Click HERE to download a free copy] - A5 Size

All, of the printables will eventually be released in A5 size... so stay tuned. Till next time.

DIY Kitchen Drawer Divider Project

2015-02-17T12:56:00.000-08:00

I have a secret the share will everyone today... you ready? When we moved into our condo a few years ago, I instantly set about organizing all kitchen. Oh yes, the cabinets looked good and the "majority" of the drawers looked good. Wait, did I just say the majority? Yes, I did. You see there there were two drawers in particular that proved to be my nemeses.

My first nemesis came in the form of my silverware drawer. I have searched high and low for a drawer organizer that is narrow enough to fit the 17 3/4" x 9 5/8" x 4" drawer. However, I never found one narrow enough with a configuration that I liked. So this what we've been living with... and when the Mister constantly complains about it being too messy for him, you know it's time to address the situation.

So I decided to DIY an organizer and defeat my nemeses. But I had two criteria, they were must be removable because this is a rental and must be cute to look at. Then I remembered I had some cute Contact paper stashed away in my hoarder closet and my idea was born. I was going to use foam core board covered in the contact paper to build it.

Supplies:

- Form Core Board

- Contact Paper

- Measure Tape

- X-Acto Knife

- Ruler (for straight edge)

- Hot Glue Gun (not picture)

First, I emptied and cleaned out the drawer.

Next I measured and lined the bottom of the drawer and laid out the silverware for placement. Can you see how narrow it is... so frustrating.

Before I cut the foam core I had to measure the depth of the drawer to make sure I didn't cut the sides to high.

I didn't take any pictures of the cutting part or covering the foam core with the paper, but that's pretty simple and self explanatory, I think.

Here my gorgeous drawer now... looooooove it!

I did run a bead of hot glue down the seams of the dividers for sturdiness.

Now it was time to take out my other nemesis... the utensil drawer.

Following the same order as the first drawer, I emptied and cleaned it out. This time, I needed to go through all my utensils and even discard a few. Who really needs 4 sets of measuring cups and 4 sets of measuring spoons? Next I played with the configuration before I cut my pieces. (Side point: I hate those knobs, I should think about changing them.)

And here is the final outcome... as you can see I played around with the configuration a few times before I was satisfied. But alas the final nemesis has been defeated!

I was already happy with this project but as I sit here and type this post my smile is getting bigger. It just occured to me how inexpensive this DIY project really was. The form core was $2.50 for the sheet and I still have half of it left. The roll of 18"x 24' (yes, 24 feet) Contact paper was $6.00 and I barely put a dent in it. Hmmm... let's do the math on this one. It would be $1.25 for the foam core. The Contact paper equates to .25/foot, I used about 3.5 feet. So that's .88 cents plus 1.25 for a grand total of $2.13 for two organized drawers?!?!

Makes me wonder what else can I organize with this method?

Surviving This Cold Season... And A Natural Disaster

2015-02-12T08:41:00.002-08:00

I don't know about where you live, but here in California the cold and flu season has been a nightmare. It seems most people I know have been dealing with a fever and a nasty cough for several days. I thought I was going to make it through the season without catching anything. Buuuuuut.... Mr. UC brought the bug home and refusing to quarantine himself, spread his germs all around the house. And low and behold, it was then my turn, but I think I'm finally on the uptick.

But while I was trying to survive this little nasty bug, the mister brought home, I was also preparing for our family to survive a potential natural disaster. Living in California, there is one natural disaster that is constantly in the back of my mind... earthquakes. In the last year, California has had 6,930 earthquakes and add to it, the fact that we live in a flood zone, you can see our need to be prepared.

Let me introduce to you a little nine page handbook I created to use as a quick reference guide.

I scoured various websites to gather tidbits I thought would be helpful, because lets be honest, I'm no survival expert. Other than watching a lot of survival shows and commenting, "I would never eat that" or "Nope I'll never visit there," that's as far as my survival expertise goes. I mean seriously, there's no way I'll be in the Costa Rican jungle having to eat half of the creatures they put in their mouths. I am way to scary and way to picky for that. But alas, I do live in earthquake country and in a flood zone.

Sigh, I digress... the bottomline is, I am no expert. I needed some help preparing this guide now so I don't have to hunt rodents in the future to survive on. Ok ok, now back to the guide.

In this handy little guide; it addresses water storage.

It addresses food storage.

It tells you how to build your own first aid kit.

It also gives suggestions on what to include in your family's survival kit.

And finally it has a checklist of everything I will include in our kit.

A few of the websites suggested creating a survival kit for your car and workplace. The truth of the matter is, you never know where you will be when disaster strikes. You could be in your car and if you live in an area where it snows there's a greater need for you to have a kit in your car.

Also, if you or a family member leaves the home for work, you should have kit at the workplace. The workplace kit should have enough in it to get you home, if you have to walk.

Lastly because many of us have furry four-legged family members, there is a survival kit list for them as well.

As soon as our kits are fully assembled I will share pics with you.

If you are interested in our little guidebook, please click {here} to download.

Till next time...

Target Is And Will Always Be My Friend

2015-01-27T10:42:00.001-08:00

Just dropping in really quick today to share some finds from Target this weekend. On Saturday, I went to Target to pick up some... hmm... what did I go for? Oh, I was looking for some goodies for my planner. Eh, let's be honest, it's Target, I went because its my happy place. At any rate, I went with the intention of only spending a few dollars. I guess that's always my plan but when I go into Target there's no way I can leave without taking a detour through the household items. Do you take the same detour?

I've been casually looking for some bar stools since moving into our little condo. Originally I'd been eyeing the Ingolf Bar Stool from Ikea for $69. I see it all over blogland and Pinterest, certainly a cute chair and seems to hold up well... but enter my friend Target.

There I was in the bar stool aisle, minding my own business with my $20 worth of dollar spot and planner items in my cart, when light shined from the heavens and I spotted the clearance tag on these Threshold bar stools. They have a similar feel to the ones at Ikea, but were now marked down to half the price! Oh yeah, the last three of these babies were definitely coming home with me.

And about an hour after arriving home we have this...

Do you see my photo bomber in the background? Look in the lower left corner.

This is a few days after moving in.

Ah... much better! But this picture makes me realize we need some color in this space. Any suggestions?

Till next time...

#target #targetstyle #threshold #thresholdtarget #clearance #barstools #kitchen #kitchenstools

Curing The Agony of Grocery Shopping... Kinda

2015-01-26T12:09:00.001-08:00

I recently received a question from a reader asking how I manage to not buy duplicates when I go grocery shopping. Until I received that question, it hadn’t occurred to me that I was guilty of doing that very thing on countless occasions. Then I realized I haven’t had it happen in a while… hmmm?

Picture this true-to-life scene: You walk through the door with your many bags of groceries in tow. You gingerly sit them on the counter and start unpacking them to put in their respective places. As you add the bell peppers, the cucumbers, the cheese, and a few other items to the refrigerator, you quickly realize that you could have saved your money on those items since you are fully stocked. “Oh well,” you think, “let’s load up the pantry.” Turning to the pantry you are shocked to realize that the situation is much the same in there…

Sound familiar? Well, that was often the scene in on any given Sunday in my house. There’s nothing like coming home from your weekly trip to the grocery store to discover that at least 30%-40% of what you just purchased is already in your frig or pantry.It’s extremely frustrating because not only is it a waste of money, its potentially going to be a waste of food as well.

Now the question remains, how have I rectified the problem for my household? First, I think the most important change made was to start meal planning. Planning for the week ahead not only saves me from constantly thinking about what I’m going to eat but it’s also the key to my shopping trip. Once all the meals are planned, I write all the ingredients down on my Grocery List printable. Well, I don’t include the seasonings, unless it’s something unique I've never used before.

With my completed grocery list in tow, I make the short trek from the office to the kitchen to compare my grocery list with what’s already in the frig and freezer. If I already have something I can simply cross it off the list now and not waste my money at the store.

Next, I take stock of what’s in the pantry as well. I can once again mark off what’s on my list that I already have and I can add the staple items that we are low on.

Can you tell this was taken before my shopping trip? It’s looking kinda bare, need to fill this baby up.

Lastly, I have a chalkboard where I write down items we've run out of during the past week. I double check to make sure they made to my list as well. This hangs right across from the kitchen island so its in plain sight and easily accessible.

The whole process takes about 10-15 minutes and saves me time in the grocery store (I hate grocery shopping) and saves money, so it’s well worth it to me.

That’s all… now it’s off to the store.

What's Happening In The Office?

2015-01-21T00:20:00.002-08:00

A few weeks ago I shared this picture of me and my fearless office assistant, Miss Mya.

You can sort of see that "we" are building something, it just so happens to be a Billy bookcase from IKEA. (My first time building this bookcase, "we" handled it with ease.) These two pictures marked the first step in "beautifying" our shared office.

Originally Mr. UC claimed ~~(was banished to)~~ this office because he only had a desktop computer ~~(I didn't want his "collection" anywhere else in the condo).~~

He has since acquired a laptop and no longer needs to spend all his time in there, so we decided to share ~~(I have taken over)~~ the space. However, there is still the issue of the "decor". Mr. UC is a sci-fi buff, aka a Trekkie, and this is a shot of one side of the office when he had single occupancy.

Let's take a closer look at those bookcases. *Clears throat* This is not even all of his collection, I mean decor.

This is where the Billy bookcases enter and have made a huge difference already. Well, that combined with condensing his collection.

Let's zoom out a bit on this side of the room. The content of the shelves are in the midst of being organized, but oh what a vast improvement already!

Now let's flip around to the other side of the room. Goodness it a hodge podge of hot mess mixed with ugliness. That's ok though, these types of rooms make great reveals for the afters, right?

I did move the dresser into the room though, I will most likely paint it a different color.

So what's left to do in here? My to-do list, in no particular order:

Additional shelving for two bookcases (4 shelves)
Add doors to bookcases
Add knobs to bookcase doors
New desk... possibly build it
New filing cabinet
Repaint dresser
New curtains, lighter color
Organize paperwork
Organize office supplies
Organize craft supplies
Decorate "exposed" bookcase shelves
Better lighting for the room (There is no overhead lighting)
Extra seating... maybe slipper chair

Better get to work, till next time...

Organizing My Computer Files

2015-01-14T10:20:00.002-08:00

January is known as a month that a lot of people focus of getting organized. Personally, I love taking full advantage of the sales on organizational supplies, but I also love no cost organizing too. That being said there is one space you can organize without spending a dime. Do you know what it is? It’s the space on your computer. That's right your desktop and all your computer files.

I don’t know about you but since pretty much everything I do is digital, it’s been easy for my desktop and documents folder to get cluttered and out of hand. Then add to the mix the family and blog photos, the blog videos and the printables I create and you have the perfect storm for a cluttered mess.

I recently took the bull by the horns and uncluttered my desktop. It had gotten quite cluttered from all the files, photos and documents that I download and was actively working on while making my 2015 planner. Now, this is what it looks, as you can see it was 9:17 at night when I took this screenshot. So much more please to my eyes.

Next, it was time to organize the dread Documents Folder. On the left (the before) you can see there were a few files not placed in specific folders. So I deleted the files I no longer needed and created a couple of new folders (highlighted on the right) and organized the out-of-place files.

But the big issue was my Downloads folder... eeeek! There were 154 items in this folder and being a a mixture of photos, fonts, pdf files, and other random things.

First I tackled the pdf and word documents, purged the unnecessary ones and relocated the rest. After that I renamed the all the photos and saved them in the correct folders.

Finally, I deleted all the files I was keeping for no good reason.

Ah... much better!

After organizing your computer, you may notice that some of your folders are quite large or you may find files that you don't want to lose. For our family its our photos, we have had the terrible misfortune of losing the majority of our digital photos because of a hard drive crash. I have also experienced a loss of blog photos because of a misplaced USB stick. When you lose precious memories like that, you quickly realize the importance of backing up your files.

As you can see below, I have currently 14 GB worth of photos in my Pictures folder, its definitely time to back up and reduce the amount of photos I'm storing on my hard drive.

Mr. UC, being in the Information Technology field, has handled all of our needs related to backing up our data. He has also made things super simple for me, placing an icon on my desktop entitled "IESHA BACKUP HERE." LOL. That man knows make it simple or I probably will not get around to doing it. Can't get any simpler than a click of a button. You may be wondering what happens when I click that button... well all the contents of my Documents folder gets copied to my folder on a 1 terabyte external hard drive.

The cloud is a great option for backing up as well. I use it in addition to the external hard drive for my edited blogging and instagram photos. You can use either as your sole backup option but I've found it helpful to have both options. It ensures that your more important items do not get lost.

Now, what about you? How do you currently organize your files? Do you have a schedule to purge unnecessary files? Do you have a way to back up your files? Why not try following this handy calendar provided to me by singlehop.com? Its an easy to follow step-by-step process, allowing you to not get overwhelmed as you get your computer space in tip-top shape. Also, if you are interested in learning more about the cloud and how to use it, check out SingleHop's page about dedicated private clouds.

Till next time...

Planning Ahead For A Healthy Week

2015-01-12T08:45:00.000-08:00

Good day ladies and gents! It's Monday... boooooo. Can anyone tell me how in the world Monday came around so fast? My weekend seemed to have gone by in a blur. Oh well, its here so we better make the most of it. Go hard or go home!

The best way for me to make sure I go hard is planning out my week. I try to plan out everything down to the finest detail, whether its doing laundry or writing a blog post. That way, hopefully, nothing gets missed and I ensure I give first place to the more important things.

I normally start my planning with determining what's on the menu for the week.

On Saturday night or Sunday morning, depending upon my schedule, I plan out all the meals and snacks for the week ahead. I used to use cookbooks and occasionally the internet for planning, but since Pinterest has taken over my life I use it almost exclusively. However, I will pull out my cookbooks for recipes that I've already tried.

The overall process takes about an hour to an hour and half. The longest part of the process being coming up with the dinners for the week. Since I do the majority of the cooking and we have different eating habits I try to simplify our menus as much as possible. During the week we enjoy the same meal for breakfast and snacks. For instance I know that I have a smoothie every morning for breakfast and my first snack will be fruit with trail mix. When it comes to lunch time, I also repeat the same meal for my lunch.

You maybe wondering at this point, "Well Iesha, don't you get bored having the same thing everyday?" Here's how I combat boredom: 1. My smoothies don't not have the same fruits in them everyday. 2. The fruit I use for my snacks vary greatly. 3. I change the ingredients in my lunch salad and the dressings I use every few days. Also, personally having a simple menu helps me to stay on track, I never wonder what I'm going to eat. It helps me say no to outside temptations as well.

However, Mr. UC gets bored easily and will not eat his lunch if he repeated too often. So for him, I have a list of 10 meals to choose from and he will "enjoy" three of them twice during the week. Now dinner time is where we both get to have some fun and have our palates tantalized. I love cooking and I "cook" for one of us each night of the week. When Mr. UC is having leftovers I make a raw dinner for myself and when I am having leftovers I make dinner for him.

Now that the meal plan is complete, I can compile my shopping list. I shop every Sunday for most if not all of our food. Occasionally, I will make another trip for fresh veggies during the week.

After I complete our meal plan I move on to planning my workout for the week.

On a day to day basis, I keep track of my health in my smaller planner that I carry with me.

I have a copy of my workout plan.

I also keep a written record of what I eat each day. Its easy to snack and lose track of how many little bites you have. This way if I get tempted I hold myself accountable by writing each little bite down. It also serves as a way to track how food affects my body. If one day my joints are particularly sore I can go back in my food log and pinpoint what may be the cause. I created this page with a water tracker, I have the hardest time drinking enough water during the day now I can mark off each cup I have.

Next I use my 2015 planner and fill in my appointments for the week and we're all set to go hard!

Here are the printables I use to organize my meals and workout for the week. Hopefully you'll find them useful as well.

{click here to download 8.5x11}

{click here to download 5.5x8.5}

{click here to download 8.5x11}

{click here to download 5.5x8.5}

{click here to download 8.5x11}

{click here to download 5.5x8.5}

{click here to download 8.5x11}

{click here to download 5.5x8.5}

Till next time...

Quick Low-Cost Organizing Project

2015-01-06T08:41:00.001-08:00

Over the weekend I cleared out our front closet. As you enter the condo, this closet is just beyond the front door to the left. We weren't using it as a coat closet because it had been turned into a storage closet with the addition of a third shelf and the hanging rod being removed. (I still can not figure out why it was turned into anything other than a coat closet, it's the perfect place for one.) Anyway for the past year and a half we had been using it as a catch all space for whatever items there were not having a home. There were air mattresses, lunch boxes, wine glasses, shot glasses, extra pillows, curtains, the vacuum and apparently a big red bucket. Basically, you name it and it was probably in there. This weekend however, the time had finally come for it to be converted back to its intended purpose, a coat closet.

(At least the shelves were neat.)

I started by completely emptying out the closet and purging items we no longer wanted or found to be useful to us. Then I went to Home Depot and had a wooden dowel cut to size, added it to the closet along with our coats, snow gear, and a few other things and ta-dah!

Nothing fancy here. It was purely function over form, even though I did add some washi tape to the front of the shelves for a little bit of interest.

To the upper shelves, I added back our lunch boxes and organized our snow gear in plastic bins with $1 bin tags from Target. The wooden basket holds some of my workout gear, such as, gloves and a jump rope.

At the bottom of the closet I have our briefcases and a vintage two gallon crock that holds our umbrellas. The crock is sitting on a vintage step stool used when I need to reach the top shelf.

Sooo... that's all folks, a quick project that costs a total of $5.36 and it was extremely easy to complete.

Till next time...

Why I Started Uncluttered Eating In The First Place?

2015-01-04T23:28:00.001-08:00

So here we are starting our first full week of 2015 and, from what I hear and read all over social media, people have two primary things on the brain right now... getting healthy and getting organized. I can't say that I don't have the same things on my mind, as well. Today I want to share how I started my uncluttered eating lifestyle.

I'm sure that a lot of you started out the first day of the year with a bang, maybe beginning the journey for a healthier lifestyle, possibly even hitting the gym. Maybe there are a few of you that waited for the first full week. But let's be honest, the most important thing is to get started. It could be the middle of the day, right after eating a huge slice... or five of New York pizza. (Pizza is my favorite food group, so I might be referring to myself. Don't judge me.) Just don't wait for the "perfect moment" because you probably will not find it. You know the ole Nike slogan... just (get your booty up and) do it. Back in early 2013, I mentioned that I was diagnosed with a plethora of food allergies and Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), receiving that information and a list of restrictions from my Rheumatologist was the catalyst for me to just do it.

I took the first step in March 2013 by eliminating wheat from my diet all together, it causes inflammation in my body. But I didn't... I couldn't stop there, I was on a quest to hopefully heal my body. So began the research into what exactly is RA, other than a potentially debilitating disorder with no cure. What causes it? Is it manageable without prescription medication? I did find out that it's an autoimmune disease and causes the body to have inflammation around the joints. My turning point came when I stumbled upon the movie Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. If you haven't had the opportunity to watch, you should make the time soon.

In the movie, Joe's journey just confirmed that I could potentially manage my RA with fresh fruits and veggies. Thus, began my life as a raw vegan. I thoroughly researched the pros and cons of living this way. I discovered that there will always be naysayers no matter what issue is being discussed. To me the possibility of living pain free was worth giving it a shot despite the naysayers. Thank goodness I did, it turned out to be the best decision I ever made for my mind and body. Right away, I found I had mental clarity and tons of energy. Then within a few months I noticed that the inflammation in my joints had all but disappeared and with each passing day I felt better and better.

Now to be honest with you, I never did a juice fast, that was not for me. I did juice at times, but my eating habits consisted mainly of green smoothies for breakfast, veggies and almonds for snacks, huge salads for lunch and dinner, along with the occasional gazpacho. This remained my routine for the majority of the spring and summer months.

Some may think that eating this way is more expensive, but if you are not buying meat, you are rarely eating out and you eventually save on doctor visits and medication... aren't you really saving money? During the spring and summer I took full advantage of the farmer's markets. This beautiful bounty was about 4 days worth of food for me alone. (The cheese was for the mister.)

Since I was restricted from working out in the beginning, other than taking the dog for walk, I focused so solely on getting my eating under control. I'm here to tell you, the weight literally melted off. The first picture was taken February 10, 2013 in Marshalls and I became a raw vegan two months later in April 2013. The second picture, with my goofy niece, was taken July 27, 2013 and I had lost about 30 lbs by then.

While the weightloss was a bonus, the most important aspect was my body being well enough to walk around the State Fair with my family for hours and not need a wheelchair because I couldn't use my knees the next day. It was an amazing feeling and felt as if I had gained my life back.

If you have considered trying a raw vegan way of life why not start slowly and replace one meal with a raw one. Such as, smoothies for breakfast or a huge salad for lunch. Its my desire to share the rest of my journey with you, if you choose to follow along.

Till next time...

Looking Ahead To 2015

2014-12-31T10:41:00.000-08:00

Good day ladies and gents.

Before I get into my post, I just want to take a few moments first to thank the readers that have stuck with me during the silent hours here at The Uncluttered Lifestyle. I sincerely appreciate each email checking to see if I was still alive and the comments letting me know my printables were useful to you. Each comment read and email received warmed my heart and reinforced my desire to return to blogging. Thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Now, whats on tap for the year ahead?

Well, let me explain it... when I was planning my return to the blogging world I knew I had to have a plan. I no longer could approach blogging all willy-nilly like I had in the past. (Shhh, don't tell anybody I never had a plan. Well, at least not one that I stuck to.) I knew I wanted this blog to be enjoyable for all visitors and that meant having a clear direction for the content. Sure, I love to talk about all things organizing, but you can only organize so much, right?

Originally, when I named my blog The Uncluttered Lifestyle, in the back of my mind I knew I wanted this blog to be all encompassing. To me, leading an uncluttered lifestyle goes beyond just keeping the drawers and closets clutter-free and organized, it spills over into all aspects of life and that's what I want this blog to reflect.

So, for 2015 I'm taking this blog in that very direction, time for me to make my vision a reality. I will touch on many more aspects of life other than just actual organizing. By now, you may have noticed that I added some new pages to the menu bar:

- Uncluttered Home
- Uncluttered Health
- Uncluttered Life

The Uncluttered Home page will have links to the organizing and decorating projects that you have become familiar with from the Uncluttered Lifestyle. I will continue sharing new projects with you since I'm in the midst of a few of them.

The Uncluttered Health page will have links to both my weekly eating and workout plans. It will also contain links to vlogs preparing vegan and non-vegan meals in the kitchen for both me and Mr. UC. I will share how I uncluttered our pantry and refrigerator.

The Uncluttered Life page will go more in depth on the benefits of living a life with less clutter. Our society says that the acquiring of "things" is important and give us true meaning but that couldn't be farther from the truth. I'm not saying live a austere or ascetic life, because I love being surrounded by nice things and boy do I love shopping but as with most things balance is required.

In my "I'm Back" video I told you, I have a lot of projects in the works and rattling around in the ole brain of mine. Based on all of the direction I'm headed in with this little blog of mine, it looks like the forecast for 2015 is a busy one.

Till next time...

Results of Uncluttered Eating

2014-12-30T14:22:00.001-08:00

Can you believe we are a day away from the start of 2015?

With the start of a new year approaching and all the yummy comfort food we've all been eating during these cold months, many of us may be getting in gear to hit the gym and change our eating habits. (I hate the word diet.) Or maybe at one point you had previously adopted healthy eating habits but have since fallen back into your old routine and you're ready to get back on the ball.

Well, I'm going to sharing with you my journey and how I achieved these results. (Be sure to check out my Uncluttered Health page, after the first of the year, for details on how and why I started this journey in the first place.) The before picture was taken in October 2012 and the after picture was taken in July 2014. Sidenote: I started my uncluttered eating habits in April 2013.

Each week I'll share my eating and workout plan with you. Please do not read this as my being any type of expert or that I feel this particular lifestyle will work for everyone, because I do not. I am simply desiring to share what worked for me and how I personally incorporate being "uncluttered" into all aspects of my life. If you would like to give it a try follow along. If you have questions please feel free to contact me.

Till next time... Iesha

My Fearless Office Assistant

2014-12-17T00:00:00.000-08:00

I can't wait to share what's happening in the office... thanks in part to my wonderful assistant.

Stay tuned...

2015 Planner... More Free Printables

2014-12-16T00:20:00.001-08:00

Hey peeps... I'm back to share more free printables with you from my planner.

I'm still using my Arc Planner from Staples, which I bought in 2013. I just love this planner, it has held up amazingly. Seriously, Mr. UC will confirm that I do not treat my stuff very gingerly. If I purchase an item, I expect it to be able to hold up to the impending beating that I'll inevitably put it through and let me tell you this planner has done just that.

There is one thing I changed on the planner for next year. I found that the 1" discs that come with the planner are just a little too dainty for me. (The picture below shows the original discs.)

I needed something more substantial, something with a little more girth to it. So I changed out the 1" discs for the 1.5" expansion discs, to contain all the papers that I need to include, which is going to be a lot since this is now my desk planner.

Now let's take a look at some of the printables... shall we?

Inside the planner, I have the front divided into five sections (Budget, Blog, Fitness, Meal Plan, and Notes) and behind the sections I have the my 2015 Weekly Planner.

In the Budget sections I have a monthly calendar page where I write bill name and amount due on the corresponding date. On the back of each Monthly Calendar page, I have a Notes page where I breakdown the budget for our "cash envelope" system.

The nice part about this calendar is, its a perfect match with my 2015 Weekly Planner and you can use it for anything. Also, if you print just the odd pages you will get just a 12 page monthly calendar.

{click here to download)

After those two pages I have my Monthly Budget Page.

{click here to download}

And finally I have my Checkbook Register. I have a page printed for each of our bank accounts and each bank account is labeled with different color washi tape.

{click here to download}

If you would like further detail on how I set up our budget and our bill payment system just let me know. I'm happy to share what works for us.

The last section that I have is my notes sections. I am a list maker and I tend to write down random thoughts, whether its about an idea for the blog or some project that I want to work on, I am always jotting down my thoughts. So I created a notes page and filled this section with a plethora of these pages. Oh annnnd it's also available in 5.5" x 8.5".

{click here to download 8.5 x 11}

{click here to download 5.5 x 8.5}

Its my hope that you are about to put these items to use in your life just as I have.

Till next time...

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Wanna Know A Little More About Me?

2014-12-08T08:20:00.000-08:00

Happy Monday to you. I hope that you had a wondeful weekend. My weekend was a relaxing, really didn't get out to much. Oh wait, what am I talking about, we did make a quick trip to IKEA for another Billy bookcase since I am in full organization mode in the office. I'll be sharing that progress with you guys shortly.

Since this weekend was a lazy one for me, I took that time to update some parts of the blog and have a mini photoshoot. While most of the shots were pretty tamed, I had to get one that shows my goofy side.

Once the shoot was done and pics edited I updated my profile picture and if you click on my picture you will be taken to my "about me" page.

I did take the time to update that page as well. So if you would like to learn just a tab bit more about me and see the men in my life, click on my picture to the right. One more thing, if you are wondering how to pronounce my name, its "eye-eee-shuh" just like its spelled I-e-sha.

Till next time...

Black Friday Organization Deal

2014-11-27T10:41:00.000-08:00

With the release of my 2015 Weekly Planner printable at the beginning of the week...

I clearly have organizing on the brain. So this morning when I saw an email for The Container Store, I just had to share their Black Friday Sale with you.

Till next time...

Here It Is... 2015 Weekly Planner

2014-11-22T22:19:00.000-08:00

I'm so excited for this post, because like I said in my vlog, it's one of my favorite things to talk about with you. I'm so excited to release my 2015 Weekly Planner printable.

A few of you inquired whether or not the 2014 planner was available to download in 5.5" x 8.5". Well guess what?!? The 2015 version is... you will be able to download it in two sizes, in 8.5" x 11" and/or 5.5" x 8.5".

The 2015 version has had a pretty little makeover. If you take a look at the picture below you can see some of the differences. (The 2014 planner is on the table) It has some new fonts and an updated color scheme. Also, the note sections are smaller and the daily planning areas are larger to accommodate the busy lives that we all of lead.

Well, now that I have given you a sneak peek at mine... why don't you download your own personal copy?

Here is the 2 page 12 month calendar only. You will notice that at the end of each month there is a biblical quote about love.

12 month calendar - 8.5" x 11"

12 month calendar - 5.5" x 8.5

And lastly here is my 2015 Weekly Planner. The 5.5" x 8.5" size does not have the monthly calendars across the top.

2015 Weekly Planner - 8.5" x 11"

2015 Weekly Planner - 5.5" x 8.5"

I hope you enjoy as much as I do!

Till next time...

Where Have I Been?

2014-11-19T08:20:00.000-08:00

Hi ladies and gents.

At the end of last week I gave you a sneak peak of the vlog that I had coming up. Well here it is! I explain where I have been for the last 10 months and what's coming up on my blog for you.

So, I hope you enjoy and I look forward to sharing more in the days and weeks ahead.

Till next time!