Project Simplify {Week 2}

Last week I started Project Simply. I worked on Ellington's toys and it came at a perfect time because we've been home this week for Spring Break. I could tell that her play was more effective and things were certainly less of a mess!  I think I might have veered off a tad for this weeks area.  I had it in my head that we were suppose to work on the kitchen, but then after my little project I saw that it was more technically the pantry and the fridge...so I got a little off track.  This week I had a very simple goal - clean the microwave!  

There are several reasons I decided to go with such a small task.  The first is that the whole point of this thing is to simplify so that we can enjoy life more.  Like I mentioned, it's Spring Break and I wanted to spend more time with Ellington and less time with busyness.  I wanted to sit and play without telling her a million times to "please let Mommy finish what she is working on".  I guess most people would see Spring Break as a time to get MORE done, but I took it as a time to get LESS done.  Not to mention the fact that we really only had three days with nothing on the calendar.  I wanted to spend those days enjoying Ellington.  

The second reason that I chose the microwave is because for the most part the kitchen is very organized and fairly clutter free.  Except for the challenge of keeping junk from cluttering the island, I don't have much problem with this area.  So, that's good I guess! :) 

The last reason I decided to clean the microwave was because...it was DIRTY. :)  It needed it.  Badly.  The microwave is one of those things that can easily go unnoticed.  If I am sticking something in there I often think "Man, it's dirty in here" but because I am in the middle of preparing food, I can't immediately do it.  Then I close it up and don't think about it again until I am in the middle of preparing food again.  I was recently at my brother and sister-in-laws house.  I opened their microwave and I couldn't believe how clean it was.  I might have gasped.  I was SO use to a dirty one I guess.  I immediately thought "Oh my goodness...if someone came to our house and had to use ours it would be so embarrassing!"  Fast forward to the next night...we were hosting our small group and right before everyone arrived (and I no longer had time to clean it) I thought, "Oh no!  I hope no one sees in our microwave!".  Ha.  Obviously I needed to do something about it!

Here's the before.... 

(I am so embarrassed and it looked WAY worse in person)

And here's the after.... (Much better!)

I did a quick pinterest search about cleaning microwaves because I knew I had seen pins about it.  (Clearly I had never pinned one myself!)  I ended up following one blogs advice.  I filled a microwave safe bowl up with water and added a bit of vinegar.  I heated it up for 5 minutes.  While it was heating I cleaned the outside of the microwave.  The steam created loosens the yucko stuff inside the microwave.  I then scrubbed the inside with a wet rag and let the plate soak in hot soapy water.  After scrubbing the plate I was all done!  It looks SO much better!  I smiled as I reheated our leftovers. :)  

The moral of the story...do what you can, when you can.  It makes a BIG difference!