Rural Simplicity

I'm not ready! It can't be time yet!!I might have sounded brave two days ago when I gave you the final preliminaries for this Spring Cleaning Challenge, but let me tell you what I've quickly realized: 1. Missions Conference week (extra evenings at church) 2. Started a new eating plan (no it's not a diet, I hate diets) 3. Started a new exercise plan 4. Spring Cleaning Challenge! I have no idea when I'm going to clean my windows tomorrow between cooking 6 meals, working 8 hours, exercising and going to Missions Conference at 7pm, but It's going to happen! I've managed to start way to many things all on April 1st and that's no Fooling! I hope you are encouraged by my craziness in knowing that we are all busy and wondering how to accomplish it all. But don't worry, if you mess up with the cleaning schedule. (Even if it's the first day!) Just get back on track tomorrow, or maybe tonight. Success doesn't always start with success, sometim...

Welcome to my favorite day of the Spring Cleaning Challenge! Today we will be doing some in depth planning. (I love to plan!) Here is a day by day breakdown of what will happen. Each daily post will go even farther in depth. Don't forget that it is laid out by week, and the first and last weeks are not full weeks. Each week is dedicated to an area of the house and I laid it out to clean from the top to the bottom.  I hope you have your cleaning supplies made or bought, your rags and wipes nearby and some good sturdy clothes and shoes, because it's about to get messy! See you on Monday for your first assignment! Remember I'll be giving out each day's assignment the night before so you can start as early as you like. Also don't forget to sign up in the comments below and encourage one another along the way. Sarah

Here is the last of my recipes that i think you will need to get you through the Spring Cleaning Challenge. If you notice most of them have vinegar and warm water as the base, so feel free to use one or two recipes on everything. Of course if you have your own recipes or don't feel clean without store bought items, please don't sacrifice your sanity for my sake. Use what best suits your needs. Tomorrow I will give you a detailed cleaning list for each of the 30 days.  Sunday we will rest in anticipation for the great cleaning surge and Monday I will give you your first assignment. You won't need to start cleaning until Tuesday April 1st, but I want you to be prepared for each day so you can start as early as you like. Sarah

April is quickly approaching! Are you getting the itch to clean? I hope so, because today we are going to tackle the shower! Okay, not really, but I am going to share my favorite recipe, which is shower cleaner, which will help when we really do tackle that shower! I put my cleaner in a spray bottle and use a sponge to clean with. It works great and leaves my tiles shining! Some people put this concoction in a sponge wand allowing you to have one tool.  Just to reassure you, I know this seems like a lot of dish soap, but this will go a long way. Also make sure you give your spray bottle a little shake before using to keep it mixed well.  One more recipe to go! Happy mixing! Sarah

6 days left to prep for the Spring Cleaning Challenge! Today we are going to look at a simple (no recipe needed) wall cleaner. Since we will be wiping down the walls in our house and scouring off marks I thought a simple tip on cleaning walls would be appreciated. You need three things: 1. Sponge 2. Baking Soda 3. Warm Water You can make a paste for hefty spots, or just add baking soda to the water for overall wall washing. We all know that you can do a ton of work with baking soda! Happy Preparing ! Sarah

Day two of our prep work for the Spring Cleaning Challenge! Today I'm going to give you a recipe for window cleaner.  I've also been told that using warm water and a little bit of cornstarch is a great way to clean your windows as well. I don't have a recipe or a ratio for you though. I hope you are gearing up for the Challenge, it's only 7 days away! Don't forget to leave a comment below if you want to join us for the Spring Cleaning Challenge. Sarah

It's the time of year when you want to wash away the Winter, beckon in the Summer and clean till your fingernails don't exist anymore! I would like to invite you to join the Spring Cleaning Challenge were I will be giving a daily encouragement to keep up the good work. First of all this is a one month challenge, we will be starting on April the 1st (no joke) and ending on April the 30th. You will have each Sunday to rest (this is NOT a catch up day!) and I will be giving you a verse to meditate on for that day. Secondly, I will be using this last week of March to lay out the schedule so you can be prepared for April's challenge and also each day, including today, I will give you a cleaning recipe. Spring cleaning is for airing out your house from the winter bugs, not for filling it up with toxins!! Use this week to shop for anything you might need so you can focus your time on cleaning when April comes. Third, please use the comment bar below to encourage one another, an...