To organize and oversee the needs of your home, creating a homeowner’s journal will be your best ally to keep track of warranties and manuals for the systems and appliances in your home. Arrange to have a notebook, binder, or file drawer as your home base for collected receipts and manuals.

There are several things to collect that will increase the efficiency of managing your home. Ownership information, such as the title to the property, appraisals, inspection reports, home warranty plans, homeowner’s insurance, and mortgage documents, should all have a place in your journal. Include the dates and contact info for the maintenance and renovation professionals who have performed various tasks around your home. List renovation and purchase dates along with descriptions and samples of finalized work.

If you organize your journal by season or category, you can easily produce a schedule of maintenance tasks. Record projected end-of-useful-life dates for major appliances and components.

Home ownership will run smoothly with fewer maintenance surprises with a working journal. Having a journal also helps assure a future buyer that you have taken good care of your home. It will also be very useful if you consider refinancing your home.

Born into a rural community in Virginia, West saw education as her ticket out of the countryside. After graduating from high school, she went on to attend college at Virginia State University. It wasn’t typical to see women studying mathematics at the time, with West herself saying “You felt a little bit different” to be a woman in a field dominated by men.

When early computers were adopted by the scientific community, West had to shift her work away from paper equations and logic by learning how to program. She worked passionately on creating complicated algorithms, which she programmed into an IBM 7030 (aka Stretch) computer. Using this, she designed a geodetic model that mapped the shape of the earth while factoring in how gravitational pull and tidal forces may impact it. This model was game-changing, as it came to underpin the GPS satellite system.

Dr. Gladys West has finally been credited for her role in scientific advancement, being inducted into the US Air Force Hall of Fame in 2018.

Dip a few pieces of broccoli at a time in egg mixture, allowing excess to drip off, then dredge in the flour mixture, tapping off any excess. Transfer broccoli to prepared baking sheet. Generously coat with cooking spray. Bake broccoli, without turning, until golden brown and tender-crisp, about 25 to 30 minutes. Serve.

Make a cleaning plan.

Rather than trying to get everything done in one enormous, tiring clean, make a schedule for yourself across the course of a week or so in order to spread out all the little jobs, from decluttering to polishing. This will lighten the load and immediately take off some of the pressure that comes with thinking of the spring clean as one massive job.

Get yourself prepared.

Make sure you’ve stocked up on all of the household products, new storage containers, and tools that will help with the task. As with the previous point, don’t worry about having to do this all at once: pick up an item you need each time you go shopping to help gradually build up your armory.

Think about making a change.

As part of your spring clean, you might want to reimagine a space or think about changing up the feng shui of a room. Doing this will help you to feel more excited about your spring clean as well as give your home a new lease on life for the rest of the year.

Don’t rush.

Usually the only time pressure on a spring clean is the pressure we put on ourselves. Most of the time there’s no deadline for doing it, so lighten the emotional load by allowing your clean to take as long as it takes.

For some spring cleaning ideas that will make the biggest difference when selling your home, give us a call or email us today.

Write it down. Don’t underestimate the power of a handwritten card, note, or letter. There is something thoughtful about taking the time to express yourself on paper rather than shooting a quick text. Write about the ways she adds value to your life and let her know her effort doesn’t go unnoticed.

Anticipate her needs. Women often spend their time anticipating the needs of others, so take a minute to consider her needs instead. Think of the ways you could make her day easier.

Tokens of appreciation. Receiving a small gift out of the blue is a lovely surprise and could brighten up her day. It doesn’t need to be extravagant: think of flowers, chocolate, a new notebook, a sleep mask, or a gift card for her preferred coffee shop.

Take a trip. It’s important to spend quality time with the women you care about, so find a way to have some fun together. Go somewhere new or revisit a familiar favorite.

Good mood food. Is there anything better than being treated to a nice meal? Liven up your lunch break and visit the cute café down the road. You could take charge in the kitchen, book a restaurant for dinner, or even order some delicious takeout.