Tech Spring Cleaning: The Phone

Spring is almost at its close with Summer just around the corner. Now that I'm done with school and my big New Mexico/Texas trip, I'm cracking down on my spring cleaning. I'm not just including the classic cleaning out of the closet. I've also tacked on tech spring cleaning where I'll be going through the files on my computer, photos on my phone, deleting old e-mails and making sure to back up everything. Today I'll be talking about the phone primarily.

Phone

The first thing to tackle is the phone. For awhile there I could barely do a thing on my phone because I didn't have the space for it. After sorting and going through all the old photos and contacts I don't need on my phone any longer I am much happier. 

Plug it In || Update the software on your phone and back it up. Back it up. (apps, photos, notes, etc.)

Photos || Delete unnecessary photos. The best way to do this is not to click on camera roll but to go to photos. Edit and select the photos you want to delete. I went through what was 1,000+ photos and narrowed them down to 484.

Texts || Mine range back to 2010 and have never been cleared. I'd wipe the whole slate clean.

Apps || Go through and delete the apps you don't need and update the apps you're keeping (plug it in if you have to.) Organize apps into folders. Put games with games, all social media in a social folder, and fitness and health in their own folder and so on.

Notes || Have any old grocery notes? Reminders? Random ideas? Delete them. I keep a few lists for travel ideas, movies I'd like to see, restaurants I've eaten at, blog post ideas, and my favorite books and what I'd like to read.

Voicemail || Record a new voicemail. For about a year I've had the default greeting so I thought I'd make the change. "You've reached Shannon Kirby. I'm not able to answer my phone right now, but leave a message and I'll call you right back." Also delete old messages and recent and sent calls.

Contacts || See any names you don't recognize? Placeholders that don't make sense (I have in here "Some British Guy") See people you knew from middle or high school that you sure don't talk to anymore? Ex-boyfriends? Delete them. Once you have the ones you want to keep put them into groups.

I hope that these tips help you have a much more organized phone with lots more space for photos and music!

Postcrossing Organization

I've finally reached 50 received postcards as well as 50 sent postcards! I can truly say that collecting postcards through postcrossing is a hobby of mine now. And now that I have so many cards, I've thought up of new ways to display my postcards. Hiding them away in boxes defeats the purpose of sharing the art and culture of these wonderful postcards, these postcards should be stored in a way that can be seen and celebrated.

Albums // Go for a beautiful new album with pockets to slip the cards into or even try a Vintage Album. 

Upcycle // Get Crafty and upcycle your postcards into something new like a trunk or a lamp.

Wall Art // Decorate your walls with framed postcards, line them up on photo ledges, and even hang postcards from string all around the room (this is what I do in my dorm.) [via]

Other // You can even hang them up on cork or memory boards. Let them dangle from a mobile, or if you're really thinking of a great use for them hang them in the shower curtain.

How do you organize your postcards?

Shannon

My Desk

The furniture in my room has either been passed down in the family for a long time (like my mirror and jewelry armoir) or built with things around the house (my DIY headboard.) The most haphazardly built item in my room would be my desk. 

It's made of a broken piece of counter we found when we moved in, half a broken Ikea desk, and a basic shelf from home depot. Basically, it's a big wobbly mess. Well, recently I decided to move it to the other side of the room and attach a mirror above it to make it a vanity of sorts.

The vanity works better for me since I'm not using it for homework anymore. Now it's a great place to have all my make-up organized to the side while the rest of my desk can be used for writing postcards or blogging.

P.S. I realize I haven't been on here in awhile and that's because I had a mad stretch of working all three jobs at once for the past week. But now I've managed my time effectively and am back to a normal schedule. It's nice to breathe again and get back to blogging.

Shannon

Pantry Organization

With school I'm somewhat organized with my folders, books, and agenda. At home, I go crazy with the need to organize everything. I always seem to want to make projects around the house of de-cluttering closets and shifting things around even if my parents think it looks fine the way it is. Sunday, I took up the challenge of organizing the pantry.

Now there aren't any before pictures and that's partly because I always forget to take them and partly because the before is something you probably did not want to see due to overdrawn expiration dates. So I devised a new system in Excel, posted on the pantry door, that organizes all the foods by name, type, meal, shelf, and expiration date. For instance, the first shelf is breakfast foods to the left and pasta to the right. We'll see how long everyone keeps up with this new system. If I had the choice I'd even go a little farther in my organizing with some of the pantry organization I found on Pinterest.

When I have my own pantry I'd deck it out like these dream pantries with lots of color, plastic containers, labels, lists, and chalkboards.

What would your dream pantry look like and have you felt the need to de-clutter and organize lately?

Shannon

Donations

One of the tasks Gerred and I took on our stay during Winter Break was de-cluttering and organizing both Gerred and his brother Gerome's room. We found lots of interesting clothes, magazines, photos, and memorabilia from his past that got us all talking through the whole process.

Both guys went through their clothes (they have a lot) that dates from middle school to the end of high school. Gerred had a collection of both band t-shirts and marching band shirts. A majority of it all was black (he went through a stage) and was promptly put into the donate pile.

The next task was to tackle the dresser. Gerome was moving to a new apartment and needed the dresser so we went through years and years of stuff.

Look at the Crown. He was Homecoming King! Anyways after hours of hard work (ok Gerred's hard work while Gerome and I just chatted) it went from this...

...To this. Not even sure how that happened.

But we were left with so much stuff. We decided to keep the cool stuff (Nitendo 64 and Lord of the Rings Mugs) and brought it back with us to Annapolis. As for the other stuff, clothes were donated to the American Rescue Shelter and technology was traded and sold.

Gerred is selling his Gameboy and all it's accessories on Amazon. The broken Game Cube and a few Playstation games were sent into Gazelle.  Then all his CDs were brought to Hastings to be traded in for a $30 gift card which was used to buy Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part 1 and Part 2. Both have since been sold back for a different assortment of games.

The cool thing though is that, I'm trying to do the same at home for Spring Cleaning. I try to go through my closet and check what I didn't wear at college. So here are a few things to do with the stuff you don't know what to do with.

For Profit

Gazelle

I've traded in my old laptop that barely worked as well as two old iPhones that were screwy and got over $100. Remember broken things can be recycled to the right place for a good price.

Hastings

I need to find a place like this in Maryland. They pay you for used books, games, movies, and CDs.

Re Reads

Go to a used book store in your area and give them the weird fantasy books you read when you were thirteen. You can either trade them in for better books or get money for them.

Plato's Closet

I've yet to go here but basically you trade in brand name clothing and get cashola.

Ebay or Amazon

Textbooks and stuff

Donations

What warms your heart

Goodwill

Purple Heart

Cell Phones for Soldiers

Homeless Shelters

Teens for Jeans

Whether you plan on donating or making a profit off the old things that have been gathering dust in your room. Having a new organized room and feeling good for helping someone else out is the best thing in the world.

Shannon

On the Go Emergency Kit

Inspired by the Miniemergency Kit's for Her, I've decided to create my own emergency kit of roughly 18 items to keep in my purse for those "oh no" moments while on the go. Remember, not all these items are necessary. I don't have the mini sewing kit in my bag, but I put it out for those who may want that in theirs.

1.  Clinique Make-up Bag - Get a good pencil pouch or make-up bag to fill everything in.

2. Band-Aids - This kit is full of band-aids in different sizes as well as cleansing wipes and gauze pads.

3. Secret Deodorant - Forget to put on deodorant this morning? No problem.

4. Tampon - Be the girl with the tampons for your friends in need.

5. Tide To Go - You never know when you might get splashed with mud or food and have to clean it up.

6. Pen - For when you're unexpectedly in need of one at an event.

7. Tic Tac - Fresh breath instantly.

8. Floss - When food is awkwardly stuck in your teeth.

9. Hair Ties & Bobby Pins - Simple problem hair solutions.

10. Travel Kleenex - Use a kleenex, not your sleeve.

11. Banana Boat Spray Sunscreen - I have the spray instead of the lotion so it doesn't leak. The sunscreen is arguably the most important part of the kit (especially for me.)

12. Mini Sewing Kit - This is certainly optional, since I don't feel like too many people need to sew on the go. But the scissors may come in handy.

13. Earring Backs - How many times have you lost the back of an earring? Backs of erasers work perfectly as earring backs too.

14. Ibuprofen - Great for long car rides or concerts.

15. Nail File - The one I have came out of my February Birchbox

16. Pocket Size Hand Sanitizer - For all the gross surfaces of the world.

17. Burt's Bees Lip Balm - Chapped lips are terribly, carry this around and save your lips.

18. Ponds Clean Sweep Towelettes - Take care of a running mascara or a sweaty face.

Remember to always be prepared! If you have any suggestions to add to the On the Go Emergency Kit, just comment below.

Shannon

Organizing Old Photos

Yesterday when I visited my Grandparents house, I volunteered to help my Grandma organize all of the old photos she had kept away in boxes for years. She needed to gather some photos together for a family reunion by August and I thought going through them all would be a great idea. Well it was actually a really fun experience with my family as I got to see tons of old photos as well as interesting records, postcards, booklets, and trinkets.

We got to work by first covering the dining room table with plastic table cloths and adding post its that marked each decade from 1910-2012.

As we started going through the photos the timeline started to fill up.

I love this photo album. It has great black and white as well as color photos that document the early life of my Mom and her siblings.

After awhile we had to create individual years for 1992-2012 and overlap pictures based on events.

Here's an old photo for you all. I'll have to check with my Grandma who these people are. I know she wrote their names and the date on the back since that was our process.

More of the older photos and newspaper clippings.

And that's how much we got done from just one of the three boxes. We still have to go through the other two and then go to Michaels and get some photo albums.

Going through all these photos made me start to think about printing out my own photos and making my own album.

Shannon

Organization

I love being neat, I just can't always manage it. I love to organize and clean when I get the chance to and here are just a few fun things I found around the web of great ways of organizing space.

The layout is great, I have a similar shelving system in my closets, but it's not as open as this. I really like the overhanging shoe organizer. I have one at college and it's a great space saver.

How cute is this mud room locker style? My cousins have something like this and it's a great way to keep muddy boots and back packs in one place on the way out. That way there aren't random jackets just lying around, like I sort of do. It's the same with keys, hang them by the door and you're good to go.

Well this is just beautiful. It's also a little intimidating to see how much clothes there are. The shoe racks here are nice, I think I'll need to get some on the floor shoe organizers for my boots back home.

At my house we have a plastic container system for cereal, but I wish it extended to spices and pasta as well. The organization makes everything look easy to find.

I'm also going to want to try to do this as some sort of craft, magnet tea can pen holders. Genius.

So I should organize my room, shouldn't I?

Shannon

Desk

I thought I'd show you all my giant desk. It's a lot different than my small broken desk from last year since it can hold so much. The best thing is I tricked this baby out for mega super organization. I like to do that in the first week of classes so I stay in a constant state of knowing where things are.

I've got my agenda which I diligently keep up with. I have to say with a cute agenda I tend to write in it more than I ever did in the grade school agendas.

I have a wall calendar with all the non-class related events like duty, Gerred's games, and Birthday ball!

And right next to me I have this dry erase board where I keep a daily to do list. I feel like I honestly need this many lists though in order to guilt me into getting stuff done.

Oh and here is my bookshelf. I've got a couple of my own books on writing, a few textbooks from last semester (7 Greeks, Ovid, Ireland: A Short History), fun books, fashion books, fun reads (Running With Scissors, Girl In Translation,) and a movie I have to watch for Screenplay, Chocolat. I love all the color on this shelf!

I even have folders on the back for each class: Ecology of the Chesapeake Bay, Screenplay, Chaucer, and Foundations of Western Lit I: Bible. As well as folders for my two jobs as Elm Photography Editor and RA. I keep the go-to papers in each of these, like Syllabi and roommate contracts.

The key is to just stay organized all semester...

Shannon