Come see me (and lots o' talented crafters) at the 3rd Annual CPC Christmas Bazaar!

To Write Love on Her Arms is a non-profit movement dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide. TWLOHA exists to encourage, inform, inspire and also to invest directly into treatment and recovery.

To Write Love On Her Arms Day is a day where anyone can write the words love on their arms, to support those who are fighting against depression and those who are trying to recovering. On this day, just write love on your arms, and show it off, other people will ask why you have love written on your arms, and you tell them you are supporting to write love on her arms day, and how its benefiting a non profit organization helping stop depression, and make love the movement

♥ What will this achieve? It will achieve the goal of people knowing that there are other people out there with the same problem, and/or people who are supporting them with love.

Behind it all (from the TWLOHA site):

You were created to love and be loved. You were meant to live life in relationship with other people, to know and be known. You need to know that your story is important and that you're part of a bigger story. You need to know that your life matters.

We live in a difficult world, a broken world. My friend Byron is very smart - he says that life is hard for most people most of the time. We believe that everyone can relate to pain, that all of us live with questions, and all of us get stuck in moments. You need to know that you're not alone in the places you feel stuck.

We all wake to the human condition. We wake to mystery and beauty but also to tragedy and loss. Millions of people live with problems of pain. Millions of homes are filled with questions – moments and seasons and cycles that come as thieves and aim to stay. We know that pain is very real. It is our privilege to suggest that hope is real, and that help is real.

You need to know that rescue is possible, that freedom is possible, that God is still in the business of redemption. We're seeing it happen. We're seeing lives change as people get the help they need. People sitting across from a counselor for the first time. People stepping into treatment. In desperate moments, people calling a suicide hotline. We know that the first step to recovery is the hardest to take. We want to say here that it's worth it, that your life is worth fighting for, that it's possible to change.

Beyond treatment, we believe that community is essential, that people need other people, that we were never meant to do life alone.

The vision is that community and hope and help would replace secrets and silence.

The vision is people putting down guns and blades and bottles.

The vision is that we can reduce the suicide rate in America and around the world.

The vision is that we would learn what it means to love our friends, and that we would love ourselves enough to get the help we need.

The vision is better endings. The vision is the restoration of broken families and broken relationships. The vision is people finding life, finding freedom, finding love. The vision is graduation, a Super Bowl, a wedding, a child, a sunrise. The vision is people becoming incredible parents, people breaking cycles, making change.

The vision is the possibility that your best days are ahead.

The vision is the possibility that we're more loved than we'll ever know.

The vision is hope, and hope is real.

You are not alone, and this is not the end of your story.

We at TWLOHA believe that rescue is possible, and are committed to communicating hope to others who know the daily struggle of living in a broken world.

(If you haven't read this post, it kinda explains what I'm doing this week. Make sure to go there to link yourself up too!)

I told y'all to come looking for me last night if I didn't post, because that means the laundry monster got me! It was a close one, a fight to the death, but I managed to escape.

Our laundry room is right off of the kitchen. It's this strange little room, that you can tell was added on at a later date than the original part of the house. For some reason, the previous owner thought it would be a great idea to move the fridge in there.

It drives me CRAZY, especially when I have my three ducklings following behind me to get their sippy cups refilled.

I would move the fridge out to the spot it actually belongs in, in the kitchen, but you have to remove the doorframe in order to move it out, which is not really a job I'm equipped to do. So until I can get the hubs to do it, it stays in the laundry room.

Before:

(I told y'all stuff had fallen behind when I was pregnant. It's gotten so out of hand!)

One day (soon I hope!), I plan to put a small table and shelf in the spot that the fridge is in now, so I can fold clothes and hang them up if need be. Sounds so dreamy... I'd also love to paint in there... and put down new floors...but that's all a task for another day.

See how easy it is to start getting sucked into Magazine Cover-itis?!

For now, this room is a big junk collector and has gotten really disorganized, and I didn't have enough time to get everything done in there that I'd like. But anything's a start, right?

Before:
After (I still need to organize the top shelf but the kids were ready for dinner so the job ended there... for now!):

Before:
After (and I didn't get rid of anything out of this cabinet- how sad is that?! It just needed some love & care):
Yay! Cabinets that can actually close and a cleaned off washer & dryer!
Before...

Still need to clean that area and the rest of the room so I can take after pics! :) Hopefully that'll happen today!

Check out Lisa, Nubia, Gretchen, Britney, Katie, Christina, Gina, and Lucy for their fall cleaning updates too!

If you haven't read this post, it kinda explains what I'm doing this week.

Today was also part two of the kiddos' checkups: this time it was the "little girls" turn! That, plus Tropical Storm Ida making a visit here, made the *quick* errands that I was gonna run today turn into much longer ventures... so I was glad that I'd only planned on a little sprucing up around the master bedroom!

A month or so before Ariana was born, I did some revamping in our bedroom

(I found some before pics of our room from Christmas time, in case anyone is curious), changing out a few things to make it seem more peaceful. I also had organized our closet a while back, and because I'd kept those up, I didn't have a ton I had to do today... just some straightening up, vacuuming, and taking down our Halloween decor.

Mantle, before:

After:

Desk, before: (I know it doesn't look that bad, but there was a pile of mail under and in that pink binder that I went through and took care of!
Desk, after: I also took out the trash, vacuumed, and dusted- but I didn't take pics of those things!

Here's a few other shots from around my bedroom, just because I forgot to show them way back when I was doing my "bedroom re-vamp!" (Here's the old before pics.)

I'd really like to get rid of this little space next to our bed sometime soon... hoping that sweet girly will start truly sleeping through the night soon!

Tomorrow's plan?

The laundry room.

Gulp.

If I don't post, it's because the laundry monster ate me up.

If you haven't read this post, it kinda explains what I'm doing this week.
Today we had check ups at the doctor, which kind of threw my day off a little bit. However, one of my youth gals came over for a chat and she kept me company while I tackled the dining room and our coat/storage closet. (Old house = little to no storage space! Drives me crazy!)

I got the room finished right around dinner time, and it makes me feel so much better knowing I can get to our winter coats, decorations, and other random stuff without things falling on me now. And the kids have another spot to do crafty stuff- which makes them happy!

Before:


(Roll top desk in dining room. Piles of crafty stuff, halloween decor that needed to be put away, fabric for imaginary sewing projects piled up on the left, and all sort o' stuff.)
After:
(Storage/coat closet. Gift bags & tissue paper, holiday decorations, purses & scarves, banners & signs, candles, coats, and the boogey man.)


Before:
After:
That basket on the top shelf is where I keep all my seasonal mini-albums; like Christmas or birthday or Halloween ones... I pull them out during those times and display them on my mantle.
Table

Before:
After:

Tomorrow: we have Ariana & Sabriel's check ups, so I'm not sure what I'll get done... I will probably tackle the master bedroom since there's not a ton that has to be done, but it could use a little sprucing up!

I don't know about y'all, but my house is in desperate need of some extra care & attention.

This pregnancy was probably my hardest one; not in terms of physical condition per se, but just in the fact that I was super tired with being pregnant + taking care of 3 littles... by the end of the day, I considered it a success if I'd gotten the dishes washed and the bed made. That was about the extent of cleaning that got done on a regular basis.

At this point, my home needs some deep cleaning in a few spots, some straightening up, and some decluttering- especially before the holidays!

I know a few friends of mine that said they were in a similar state, so we are doing a blog-along this week to help keep us motivated. I hope you decide to join in!

Here's what I'm doing:

• make a plan each day to be for each room or cleaning/decluttering project.
• take before & after pics and post 'em on your blog each night, along with which room you are doing the next day.
• come back to my blog and post your blog entry to a linky thing (this way you can check out everyone elses' progress to keep ya motivated too!)
• join in, even if you can only do something for 15 min. (EVERYONE can spare 15 minutes of straightening, throwing out something, cleaning up something, etc. and you'll feel so much better for it!)
• keep in mind- this is not a competition. this is not going to earn your righteousness or give you the "woman (or man!) of the year award"! this is just a chance to tackle a few projects around home with the encouragement of friends.
  
• BEWARE: don't get sucked into the deadly disease of Magazine Cover-itis! ;)
  

Today's task for me:

I'm going to do some cleaning in our dining room. I have my old roll top desk in there that has become a junk collector, and our coat closet (the only storage closet in our whole house) is becoming a danger zone every time I try to open the door. I'm going to work on those- after I take the two kiddos to their doctor's check ups today. We'll see what I can get done during nap time!

I'll be back tonight to update this post with before & after pics.

Post here when you join in (and feel free to snag the image up above and post to your blog too)!