Oral History

Oral History is a lost art. Our generation is caught up in the fast pace way of the internet and quick access we gain by googling anything. We rarely take the time to sit down with our parents, grandparents, and others who lived the history we quickly take in through history books and online articles.

I spent this past fall researching Ed Norwood's life. After a 2 hour interview, I spent time in the Special Collections searching for pictures, driving around 2nd Street, and e-mailing Ed with more questions. In the end, I compiled a little book of Ed's life.

Take time to sit down and listen to the stories, memories, and life of those around you. It's much more interesting than just reading from the internet.

Master Bathroom

Our 1950's house has two bathrooms, and this is the one we turned into our Master Bathroom. Believe it or not, it's bigger than our last Master Bath. Having two mirrors opens up the small bath. 

 We turned the bath tub into a shower basin and added these glass doors. This greatly opened up the bathroom.

 We took out the vanity and replaced it with this Pottery Barn sink. It brings an openness to the bathroom but still gives room for storage. We also replaced the mirror with this frameless mirror that goes, almost, to the ceiling. 

 We keep the sink area clear to make it less cluttered.

 These wire baskets keep the "open" feel yet prove much needed storage.

 Another Pottery Barn splurge (but great storage). The more storage you give yourself, the more likely you are to keep things put away. 

More Kitchen Stuff

Some kitchen ideas...Keep it Simple!

These are our everyday dishes...

 ...the 3 main pots we use, plus our steamer.

We don't keep our toaster on the counter (to keep clutter down), so it has it's own drawer:)

 When we bought the house this area was a built in desk. We turned it into cabinets for storage. *we made these cabinets with sliding drawers to make things easier*

Utensil separation is a must to keep things organized.

Even in the drawers, keep things separated to make easy access.

*kid friendly drawer on the bottom: makes it easy for Maggie to play in the kitchen while I cook and clean

Because of our old home, the dishwasher had to be added. This made the drawer space almost useless... 

 ...so we keep the tops to our pots and pans in there.

I separate these utensils with clear organizers from Bed Bath & Beyond.

 Again, the same thing here.

Keep it simple...one thing per shelf. 

 Beside the sink: dishwashing detergent, soap, and cleaner.

Other Tips: every kitchen is set up differently, use this link for more ideas http://www.realsimple.com/home-organizing/organizing/kitchen/well-organized-kitchen-10000001534510/index.html.

Also, eliminate things you don't need/use!

Some Kitchen Storage

My mother-in-law, Nancy, has taught me to be wise with all of your space.

She suggested these great OXO containers to put in my glass cabinets.

They are both functional and decorative. You can find them at Target, Bed Bath & Beyond, Walmart -ranging in price and size ($12-$20).

In one pantry I keep all of the canned goods, ziplock bags, trash bags, and at the bottom Jack has his grilling stuff.  (This pantry is in our laundry room)

Categorize things to keep it simple when you are quickly needing to grab a can. 

Since this pantry is by the back door, Jack gets to have his grill tools hang at the bottom:)

I just screwed these hooks into the bottom of the shelf and hang the tools.

Again, decorative storage...thanks to Nancy's idea!

A Little Storage

We have a small cabinet space in our living room. I am using that to store miscellaneous items...

 ...our external hard drive, camera chargers, phone chargers, iPod cords...

 ...just trying to make good use of small spaces. 

All of these storage tubs where $2 at Wal-Mart. They are a great investment. I also use these cd holders (far right) to store blank cds, miscellaneous dics, and recently recorded discs I haven't filed yet. Far left (top) is checkbook storage for our three different checking accounts.

Why Black & White?

Why the title "Black & White"?

Life is not always black and white. We would like it to be, but the gray sometimes carries the most interesting parts of life.

This blog is not just black and white. It's not just about organizing or oral histories or other hobbies I have, but about everything in between. What I do as a mother and what I do as a historian, what I do as a wife and what I do as a person. All of these roles are intertwined and each is a work in progress.


^{Psalm 139
1} You have searched me, LORD, 
   and you know me. 
⁵ You hem me in behind and before,
   and you lay your hand upon me. 
¹³ For you created my inmost being;
   you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
   your works are wonderful,
   I know that full well. 

DVDs

DVDs are fun to organize. There are several different ways to organize your DVDs...alphabetically, categorically, by series, etc.

I like to put movie series together.

I keep my DVDs in baskets in a large piece of furniture and camouflaged in one basket is a "messy basket" I can through things in and go through later.

Here is my children's movie/G and PG movie basket.

This is my TV series basket.

This is a little different way to store DVDs. But a CD case and then you don't have all of the DVD cases. This one includes the TV series Everybody Loves Raymond and Planet Earth.

A peek inside the CD case.

The finished product.