So true right! First off I really love John Lennon and this quote runs through my head on the regular. I don’t know about you but for me life tends to get busy and it feels like it’s just rolling on and I’m looking to the future and not living in the present.
One of the things I loved about lockdown during covid was how easy it was to be present in my life and just enjoy the day to day happenings. We spent so much time as a family just being together playing games, working on house projects, making yummy food and playing outside. I loved not rushing around all the time. I knew that time was a gift with my family and I told myself that when things opened up again I would do a better job balancing my life.
Summer 2020
Balance takes effort and intention. 2022 was busy and my effort and intention for balance was tested for sure. I think that I have to recenter and calibrate every so often to make sure I am focused on the things that matter most to me.
Last spring I became really busy in my Real Estate business and my kids ate fast food way to much. I found myself scheduling showings after school and during the dinner time hours. My youngest started begging me to “make real food”. I love to cook but “making real food” takes planning and time. Is it worth it? For sure! Everyone is happier when I set aside the time between school pick up through dinner for family.
I am going to start sharing some of my fav recipes for meals. One of my kid’s favorite sandwiches is the Monte Christo. Simple and delicious for a weeknight. My recipe is modified Bailey style! Click link below for a preview of the sandwich.
All you need to do is act like you are making french toast. Whisk together eggs, a splash of milk or cream and a generous dash of nutmeg. Layer french bread, dijon mustard, a slice of baby Swiss cheese, a couple slices of black forest ham, a slice of cheddar cheese and another piece of french bread on top. Heat your pan on med/low and add butter. Holding your sandwich together dip the top and then the bottom in the milk and egg mixture making sure its covered completely. Add to the pan and put the lid on. Be patient…you want to cook these slowly so all the cheese is perfectly melted and the outside is golden. Serve with a small bowl of hot maple Syrup and enjoy!
If you are a sun loving human Corpus Christi is the place for you! We have an average of 223 days of sunshine each year.
Our average temperature is 79°. Flip flops, shorts, t-shirts and sun dresses can be worn most of the year. It’s not unusual to see residents wearing long sleeves and shorts in the winter months, we can’t quite decide if it’s warm or cold! This past December we hit 88° and then a couple days later we dropped down into the 50s.
We don’t just have sunshine…We’ve got wind! Did you know that Corpus Christi is the 8th windiest city in the US? Well it is! In the hottest part of the summer our breezy coast offers relief from the heat and our beaches are a great place to fly a kite any time of the year.
The weather here in Corpus is ideal. I love that it’s never too cold or hot to walk my dogs. I love that I can wear flip flops most of the year. I love that I don’t have to shovel snow or clear off my windshield. I love that my friends all want to come visit me here because it’s warm and we’ve got lots of beaches!!
December 28th 2021 and 73° in Port Aransas just 30 minutes from home!
Check out our monthly temperatures in the link below and then listen to a few of my fav songs about SUNSHINE!
I recently watched a YouTube video published by Vox (link below) and it got me thinking about home ownership and our Market here in Corpus Christi. Our market is definitely different from one you may find in other cities in America. Although nationwide trends are moving in the same direction, where inventory is low and prices high, Corpus Christi still remains one of the most affordable places to become a homeowner.
Corpus Christi is #4 in the top 10 list of cities where it takes the least amount of time to become a homeowner. Now that is some great news!
The general rule is that you can afford a mortgage that is 2x to 2.5x your gross income.
Now let’s talk Numbers. The median price of a home in Corpus Christi in 2012 was $134 950 and just nine years later it is $234 200. That is an increase of almost $100 000. That is a big jump when you consider the average income here in Corpus was $55 831 in 2012 and today it is $75 511.
Let’s look at the numbers nationally. In 2012 the median sales price of a home was $180 519 and in 2021 $358 000. That is just over $180 000 increase. Yikes!!! That is an outrageous jump when you consider the average income in the US in 2012 was $54 569 and in 2021 $79 700.
Now that was eye opening! Whenever I hear about how much people are paying for homes in say California or Chicago I think to myself “I wonder how much those people make? Could it be THAT much more than here?” Hmmm not really. Nationally the average person can not afford the average home. Sad.
So move to Corpus Christi!
Here you can buy a home at an affordable price and we’ve got lot’s of other things that make this a great place to live. In future posts I will share with you some of the highlights of our city.
If you are relocating to Corpus or you live here already but are planning on buying or selling click below to access my website where you can search for homes and contact me. I’ll help you out in any way I can.
Every Christmas Eve we eat the same meal. There is never the question “what do we want to eat?”. We do a fondue. You may think it would be monotonous to eat the same thing year after year. Well it is not! With fonduing there is endless variety. We have our favorite combinations but we also try new foods every year.
My mom and dad started the tradition some time in the 1960s when Fondue was pretty popular. I never knew a Christmas without it. If you have done one you know how brave my mom and dad were to have their young children cook their own food in a pot of really hot oil. We all survived so when I got married I knew we would carry on the tradition.
When I was a kid it felt like the prep for fondue took all day. In reality it is an easy prep meal. I think when you’re a kid everything feels like it takes forever when you are anxiously waiting for Christmas morning to come. I would help do anything to speed up the process, we all would. Add the leaves to the dining room table, gather chairs from the kitchen, help set the table and decide what fondue fork each person would get. You see on the end of the fondue fork there is a plastic half circle, all different colors so you wouldn’t confuse your fork with someone else’s. I always wanted the yellow one. Aside from the food for the fondue my mom would always have one of us make a salad and she baked potatoes. We would also have something “fizzy” to drink, as my mom would say.
The table was scattered with small bowls of bite sized morsels to dip in the batter and then into the hot oil. We had steak, chicken, shrimp, mini sausage, mushrooms, zucchini, onion, different kinds of cheeses with a variety of condiments to go with. This dinner takes a long time to eat, one bite at a time. Our conversation was simple. We would tell each other what combination of foods and condiments we were eating. We talked all about how yummy our last bite was and we talked about potential additions we would make next year. Over the years my siblings and their families have added things like, broccoli, banana, sweet potato and tons more!
Fondue pots of the past needed a Sterno underneath to heat the oil. Now we have electric ones which are much better. The Sterno was sometimes finicky. My mom and dad would often heat the oil on the stove and then add it to the pot with the flame underneath to maintain the temperature.
The Year I got married we came home for Christmas and it was Ryan’s first time doing a fondue. At the end of our meal my mom said “we need to put out the Sterno”. Ryan being unfamiliar with it but also eager to help out thought “okay we just blow them out like a candle”. So he did and the flame blew forward right towards my mom. She let out a little squeal! We all laughed once the threat of fire was gone and everyone joked Ryan was trying to “take out” his new mother in law.
There is so much more I could write about our traditions but it is Christmas Eve and the fondue prep will start soon. I can’t wait! Merry Christmas everyone!!
Get Organized and Stay Clean with Christmas Spirit!
It’s December and I know we are all busy. Parties, school concerts, family gatherings, shopping, wrapping and baking. December is a month that seems to fill up fast. It’s not necessarily a month we think of when we think of dejunking or organizing. However, if you have kids I’m going to suggest a quick “clear out”. There are two reasons why I think this time of year is perfect for going through kids toys. First, there are new toys coming that you need to make room for. Second, there are many parents who will be scanning the shelves of second hand stores to find the perfect gift for their child, a gift they can afford. Why not donate just in time to help make someone else’s Christmas a bit brighter. I know there are lots of toy drives this time of year and donating new toys is an awesome way to help out. But there are parents out there that aren’t receiving any outside help this season and they will be looking for second hand Christmas gifts.
Let me tell you a story and then we can talk about how to get this done. When I was six I really really wanted an Easy-Bake Oven. I was glued to the TV when the commercials would come on. I wanted one for my birthday in June and it was the first thing on my Christmas list in December. In the commercials a little girl with blonde pigtails (just like mine) would bake perfect cakes for a tea party. It looked like so much fun!
My sister Tara and I. My mom made the dress I am wearing in this photo.
I had no idea how much one of those things cost, but my mom knew, and they were expensive. In 1963 when they came out with the first Easy-Bake Oven it cost $15.95 which is the equivalent to $127 today. I don’t know what they sold for in 1980 but I can guess they weren’t cheap. Did I mention there are 7 kids in my family? Oh ya, I did. No one was getting an expensive gift like that with so many kids to buy for.
Christmas morning there was a big gift for me from Santa. I tore off the wrapping paper and underneath was a box we got when we bought peaches in the summer in BC. I pulled the lid off and spotted this amazing turquoise green color. We pulled it out and I could see it was an Easy-Bake Oven!!! It was even cooler than the one advertised on TV. You see I got the first Easy-Bake Oven, not the one I saw in commercials. I just assumed Santa’s elves made me a different one!
I was beyond excited. My dad made some comment about Santa getting his peaches from the same place we got ours. I wasn’t suspicious in the least. It seemed like a reasonable explanation as to why the elves put my new Easy-Bake Oven that they had made into Santa’s fruit box. That Christmas I also got several packs of the new Betty Crocker Easy-Bake Cake Mixes and my mom made me an apron to match my oven. I think it took two days for me to use up all those cake mixes but my mom said she would teach me how to make the cakes and frosting from scratch. Even with a new baby at home she made the time to do exactly that.
It wasn’t until I was in my 20s that I learned the story behind my Easy-Bake Oven. I was home helping my mom and dad organize and we were looking through some of our old toys and I asked if my mom knew where it was. My mom couldn’t remember where it got put but then she told me how she got it. She said she knew I wanted one so badly so the summer of 1980 she went to dozens of garage sales all over the city hoping to find one…and she did. Someone’s used toy made my Christmas magical. Today I love baking and I also love aprons!
This is the apron my mom made me that Christmas!
With just over two weeks until Christmas this needs to be quick project. We aren’t doing a full organizing job. One hour tops from start to finish including travel time! First think about what you know your child is getting for Christmas and then make sure you will have a space for those new things. Make space by clearing out any toys your child doesn’t play with anymore. Put them in a bag or box and head straight to the goodwill. It’s that simple. You will never know which kid will be given those toys but I promise you that their Christmas will be brighter and their parents hearts happy because of your donation. Who knows, maybe one day 40 years from now they will write about it on their blog.
-Kiersta
Check out this link to see the history of the Easy Bake Oven.
I recently read this quote in a Real Simple Magazine and for me it explained home perfectly.
Home is a place that feels deeply personal and particular, such that when you walk through the door, it’s obvious only you could live there. It’s a space where you’re surrounded by a unique collection of decor, keepsakes, and mementos – a lamp you got on a trip to turkey, or a framed picture from your 40th birthday. Home means being cocooned by happy memories.
Christine Pride. Coauthor of We are not like them
My parents bought our home at 10607 Maple Bend Drive in 1967. Our house sat on a lot and a half. This meant our yard was pretty big. We had a huge garden where we grew raspberries, strawberries, zucchini, rhubarb and tons of other veggies. We had beautiful flower beds and so many trees. We spent a lot of time together working in the garden.
We also had a two story garage. The lower level was my dad’s workshop, a couple of freezers, skis, snow shoes and an old Ford Model T that had belonged to my grandfather. The second level had an art studio for my dad and an office as well as tons of storage space. My dad built a balcony on the second floor of the garage which made it pretty easy for us to climb over and on to the garage roof where we played as kids.
He also built a big deck on the back of the house with storage underneath for canoes and extra wood. We had a rectangular trampoline in our back yard that was accessed 9 times out of 10 by jumping off the deck.
Our house was a split-level. Just 1800 sqft. You would walk in the front door and you were in the entryway. There were stairs going up to the main level and stairs going down to the basement. In the basement my dad built rooms, closets, built in beds, desks and shelves. There were three bedrooms, a small bathroom, Laundry room, cold storage, sewing area, TV room and a playroom under the stairs. My dad made good use of the space. The basement was cold so we had a fire in the fireplace a lot in the winter. Some time in the late 70s my parents decided carpet in the basement would warm it up. They collected carpet samples and scraps from stores all over town and laid a patchwork of colors and styles together. They were so resourceful! On the main level we had a living room, dining room, kitchen, full bath, three bedrooms and my parents had a half bath in their room. Did I mention there are seven kids in my family?
So much of what surrounded us was made by hand. Paintings, pottery, things made out of wood, quilts, afghans and even our clothes! When I was in elementary school my dad painted a mural in the bathroom. A rain cloud over the shower with big droplets of water, a rainbow made whole by the mirror that covered one wall, a pot of gold, a pond and some little creatures. It was magical.
In our home we were all cocooned by happy memories.
I could write for days about my childhood home. About every little memory and detail. How comfy my parents bed was and how fun it was to sit in their bed and look at their gallery wall of family and school pictures in mismatched frames. How our green carpet upstairs felt under my feet and how perfect it was for playing Pick up Sticks. How much fun it was to watch thunderstorms and snow falling from the big windows in our family room. Every project accomplished and lesson taught within the walls of our home lives in my heart still today.
I loved that house, we all did. Recently my Aunt Kathy shared a photo with all of us kids of my mom and dad in front of our house the day they moved away. They moved to a new town and a new house after living on Maple Bend Drive for 41 years.
When they moved I was so worried that their new place wouldn’t feel like home to me. I was grown with my own family and I would never live in that new home, I would only be a visitor. But my mom and dad filled their new home with all the treasures from the old one.
When you walked in the door it was obvious it was the Weight’s house.
They planted and new garden and new trees. With a new workshop in the garage at the new house my dad continued to make pottery, paint and do wood working. In the new house my mom had a big sewing room. My dad made her a large sewing table for quilting (it also doubled as a bed when family came and they put a mattress on top). Our family and school pictures were there in the same frames they had always been in. My mom and dad are both now passed. There is no home to go back to, no physical space. It was so hard to imagine never going back into that house. I loved that home. We all did. Now all the things my mom and dad created and collected are in the homes of all of us kids. Lodi California, St. Louis Missouri, Snohomish Washington, Houston and Corpus Christi Texas and two in Saudi Arabia. Recently I visited my sister in Houston. So many memories came as I saw things from my childhood home now in her home. Home is not a space, it is a feeling in our hearts sparked by memories. Home really is being cocooned by happy memories.
Here we go! Make sure you give yourself several hours or more to get this job done. You will make a big mess before it all comes together in the end. Gather the following items before you begin.
boxes for things to donate
garbage bags for trash or things that are broken, expired or too trashed to give away
Towels or blankets to lay stuff on when you run out of space on your island or table
You are going to empty every drawer, cupboard and shelf in your kitchen. You will also need to clear off all the counters under the cabinets. Clean each drawer and cupboard as you empty it. As you pull things out you are going to first decide if it is garbage or if you haven’t used it in a year then put it in the donate box. Then put the things you are keeping into groups with similar items. Theses are some possible groups:
dishes
glasses
eating utensils
serving dishes
baking tools
cooking utensils
Sharp items like knives, microplane, can opener, pizza cutter, cheese cutter etc.
mixing bowls
pots and pans
baking pans like cookie sheets, muffin tins, cake and bread pans
stoneware
Casserole dishes 9×13, 8×9 etc.
small appliances and gadgets
cookbooks
seasonal items
dish towels, oven mitts, aprons, tablecloths
water bottles
Tupperware
ziplock bags, tin foil etc.
cleaning supplies
You get the idea. You will also put your food into categories as well. For example all your baking supplies together, all your pastas together, canned foods, snack food etc.
Remember how I told you to pay attention for a week in your kitchen. Now is the time you need to remember what you discovered about yourself and anyone else that lives with you.
First I want you to put the items on your counters that you want out. You can build zones from there. You may have a coffee making zone, baking zone, breakfast zone, cooking zone etc. Let me show you my kitchen so you can see what I mean by zones.
This is my “baking zone”. I used to keep my kitchen aid on the counter but right now I am storing it in the pantry. I tend to make treats way too often when it’s easily accessible on the counter top.
I know I am using an entire drawer for treats. My youngest was diagnosed with Diabetes in May of 2020. I used to keep treats up high in a container in the pantry but we moved it to a drawer so she could easily get a treat if her blood sugars are low. If I still had little kids at home I would put kids dishes, coloring books and some small toys in this drawer.
Cleaning out the “junk drawer”
Click on the links below to see my FB live videos where I cleaned out my junk drawer!
Your kitchen will look different from mine but the foundation of zones will help with the flow and function of your kitchen. You may have noticed some of the items I use in my organization. I will add links below. I don’t get anything from these companies for sharing this information. These are items I have personally purchased that I like.
VARIERA From IKEA
I use these everywhere in my house! Pantry, cupboards, drawers, closets, on desks and even in my fridge!
I was limited in this space by the height of my bottom shelf and the width and depth of space underneath. This is what I came up with. Sometimes we need to look for storage solutions in unexpected places!
Mine are similar to these ones found on Amazon. I purchased mine at Homegoods.
That’s it! Take your trash out and load your vehicle with anything you are going to donate. Clean up any blankets or towels you used to put stuff on. This was a big project but it feels so good when it is finished. Maintaining organization in your kitchen is doable. Take everyone in your home on a tour of your newly organized space so they will be familiar with the new set up. I will be honest my family still ends up putting things away in the wrong places, but that is life and they are getting better all the time. If I were you I would order dinner out tonight so you can enjoy your perfectly organized and clean kitchen for at least half a day!
The following picture is my favorite thing in my kitchen. My sister Brita gave it to me. She won it at an auction. I keep it on the counter because I love it and I don’t have any walls in my kitchen to hang it on. It is autographed by Merl Streep!
If you have any questions regarding this project please comment and I will get back to you. Take care!
Hey friends! On my Business FB page (Kiersta Bailey KW Agent) I did a couple live videos a few weeks ago and I cleaned out my Junk Drawer. I think starting small is a good motivator for organizing. Now you are ready to tackle a bigger projects. I love helping people organize. It’s so satisfying to create function.
I’m going to tell you something I have learned from my own experience and from helping others organize in their homes.
It doesn’t matter if you live in a small apartment or a large one, a condo or a trailer, a tiny home or a mansion; somehow no matter the size, we manage to fill those spaces.
I often hear people say “once we get a bigger place I will be able to keep it organized”. Not true. I say do it now. Learn the skills needed in whatever space you live in right now. If you end up moving someday this work you put into organizing will make the move an easier one.
If the kitchen is an area in your home you struggle with then let’s get to it and make some changes.
First, I want you to take note over the next week how you move around in your kitchen. What are your habits good or bad? Where do you like to chop food? What do you need most often when you are cooking? Are there things you use daily? Is your family always asking you where certain things are? Just be aware and jot down things you notice. Like I said before we are all different so naturally our spaces will not be organized in exactly the same ways but we can all create function with some basic fundamentals of organization. Observe yourself and anyone you live with. This will help you create the function that is right for you and that you can maintain. Good luck! I’ll be back soon so we can get to the next steps.
Many of us avoid cleaning and organizing our homes because the task is overwhelming. Other responsibilities or activities easily take priority. Maybe we just don’t know where to begin and what to do. When we put things off we sometimes have “I need to clean my house” or “I really wish I could get things organized” in the back of our minds nagging at us. These thoughts make it pretty hard to truly relax and enjoy ourselves. When we feel this way we can be hard on ourselves. No one wants to feel this way.
Everything takes longer in a home that is unorganized and messy. Simple tasks like preparing a meal, folding laundry or tidying a bedroom are all of a sudden impossible to get done and emotionally overwhelming. We are just spinning our wheels. The mess just keeps getting bigger and the time we know it will take to clean up keeps getting longer and longer. One mess rolls into another and before we know it it’s out of control. Again, no one wants to feel this way.
Know this, you are not alone. Do you know anyone that has an endless number of hours on a regular basis to clean and organize? I don’t know anyone like that. Most of us don’t have that kind of time. We are all busy and no one is perfect. We all want to be efficient in how we spend our time. We all want our homes to be functional. However, this looks different for each of us. How we live day to day is unique. I do not believe there is one way to organize but I do believe there are basic fundamentals that apply to all of us.
Initially you will have to take the time to organize each room in your home, “everything in its place”. Then, with a regular cleaning schedule and some good habits that fit your lifestyle, you will develop the skills needed to maintain a well organized space. Are you ready to get it done? If your answer is yes then keep checking back and I will take you through it step by step. We can do it together. That’s what are friends for!
When I was a kid we had jobs to do on Saturday mornings. Mom and dad would talk about what needed to be done. My dad would hand write a list for us in his usual neat all caps printing. It would have our name and then underneath a list of jobs. We could see what everyone else in the family was assigned to do, including mom and dad. We would usually have an inside job or two and an outside job. We were also responsible for any personal jobs like cleaning our room if it needed it.
When I shared a room with my teenage sister, I remember dreading the job of cleaning it. We are 6 years apart. It’s not like our room was dirty it was just cluttered with clothes everywhere. She would try something on and decide not to wear it and instead of hanging it up or putting it back in the dresser it would end up draped over the back of a chair or on the floor. I would tell my mom it wasn’t fair and that when I had my own room she would see that it was my sister who was the messy one and not me. (Just for the record my sister is an extremely organized and clean person today. She was just a typical teenager when it came to her clothes. She definitely grew out of it.) When she left for college I got my own room and it was always clean with the bed made. Because my room was never messy I never had to worry about it on Saturday mornings. This meant I got done with my jobs and on to playing sooner than I would have if it was messy. I am a big fan of making the bed. A room feels instantly tidy once the bed is made. Put dirty clothes in the hamper and clean clothes away in closets or drawers. Clothes never belong on the floor. Keeping a space clean and tidy daily means you don’t have to spend hours on it later.
My favorite inside job was to tidy, dust and vacuum the living room/dining room. We had two large hutches with open shelves at the top. Those shelves were filled with treasures. A collection of bells made of metal, porcelain, wood and glass. Mushrooms my dad carved out of wood, stone and bone in all sorts of shapes and sizes. A set of pretty wine glasses, etched with vines and flowers, we used for Sunday dinners. Tiny mice made of wood with delicate ears and tails. Wooden plates and trays along with beautiful and unique pottery made by my dad. A porcelain set featuring children playing on a tire swing hanging from a tree, that belonged to my mom. (The three of us younger kids determined those kids were us.) Anyway, when I got that job I would carefully take everything off the hutches and put it all on the dining room table. Then I used pledge and a rag made from an old t-shirt to dust and clean. Afterwards I was allowed to put everything back, IN WHATEVER WAY I WANTED. I LOVED doing this so much. I loved that my mom was happy with whatever we did and did not make a fuss about things being put back in a particular way. I took so much pride in the job I did. I never doubted my ability to make something clean and look beautiful. This job gave me so much confidence. Doing this shaped the way I decorate today and the satisfaction I feel when I am done.
Outside jobs would include things like, helping in the garden, mowing the lawn, picking up dog poop or doing something in the garage with dad (the garage is another post altogether). I was surprised when after my dad passed, my mom mentioned she had never mowed the lawn and didn’t know how. I felt really grateful my dad taught me how to do things like that and that there was no separation of boy jobs or girl jobs like there was for most of my friends. My mom and dad ended up with daughters that can build and fix things, paint, mow lawns and harvest food. They have sons that know how to clean, do laundry well, cook amazing food and sew! I thank Saturday jobs for so much of that education. There is confidence is being capable.
Sometimes, usually during the summer, we would be assigned a larger job that would take weeks to complete. My birthday is at the end of June. In Canada that was the end of school and the start of summer. The year I turned 11, on the following Saturday, I came up to the kitchen and found the job list. Under my name it said “job for the summer: prep and paint the back porch, garage balcony and painters bench”. This was going to be a HUGE project. That day we started with the bench. My dad showed me how to scrape the peeling paint off, how to sand any parts that needed it, clean the wood and prep for painting. Then he showed me how to paint, primer first and then top coat. He told me not to put too much paint on the brush and to use long strokes with even pressure. After we were finished with the bench and it was drying my dad took me down to the sink in the basement and taught me how to clean my paint brushes properly. To this day when I smell turpentine I think of my dad washing paint brushes at the basement sink. Such a happy memory. After dad taught me everything I needed to know I was ready to tackle the back porch and garage balcony by myself. It took most of the summer to complete. This experience taught me the importance of doing things the right way the first time and that some projects can’t be done in a day and that’s okay. My dad knew I was the type of person that wanted to see the finished product in a very short amount of time. This taught me I needed to be patient.
So why am I sharing all of this with you? So much of what I do and what I share and teach about home organization and management is rooted in what I learned as a child doing jobs on Saturday mornings. When my two oldest were little I taught a workshop I called Get Organized and Stay Clean. In some of my blog posts I will share the tips, plans, and inspiration contained in that workshop along with the many things I’ve learned since then. Moving forward look for the workshop tittle GET ORGANIZED AND STAY CLEAN in the heading of these posts. Have a great day! I hope this post at least motivates you to make your bed.
KIERSTA BAILEY 