Thursday Special

Order up! Thursday is brought to you by the one who loves you! Unconditionally, irrevocably and for eternity. Whether you believe in Him concerns Him not, for He believes in you. He is the great "I am". With faith all things are possible, and the fact that we are created in his image...is mind boggling. He doesn't like when bad things happen to good people, but without them would we have any type of character at all? Bad things have happened to me and good things have happened to me and great things have happened to me and the culmination of all these things has made me who "I am". He, is not done with me yet and for this I am thankful. Thankful to witness the great with the minuscule, the key to enjoying this life is simple in all actuality. I didn't think so for the longest time. It's hard to see beauty when you're going through trials. To stumble during trials is exhausting, and depressing. You must keep your head up and your eyes open. If your searching but you don't know what for, turn your eyes and your heart to Him, and He will show you what you need. Be ever thankful, teach yourself to say thank you. As a part of "The Secret" the author says to start your day with gratitude. Upon waking when your first foot hits the floor, "Thank" with the second foot, "you". As you repeat this mantra everyday, you start to feel it more throughout the day. You may not mean it those first few days if your buried deep in depression, but patience and mercy to you. Keep repeating, "Thank you."  Thank you for the crisp breeze that hit my face this morning and sucked the air out of my lungs for it let me know that I'm alive! Thank you for finding the dime on the ground for it is abundance. If your thankful for the little things, you will be surprised to find He will bestow upon you greater things.
I lost the ability to be thankful a while back. I had abundance, and boy did I live like I had more. Then as I wasn't thankful for every little thing, everything started to disappear. My "stuff", my health, my happiness, all gone. Depression and self medication habits set in. The pain wouldn't go away. I looked toward different self help books, and learned a lot in the process. The one book that held the key though is the one I wasn't reading. It's all in there, every helpful hint, everything you want to know and even a lot of things you don't. The Bible. Find a well translated version that is easy to understand, that would be my suggestion. There are many ways to read it. You can read it in a devotional sequence, where each day you learn something different many times depending on where you are in your life. I, not knowing where to begin, followed my heart and started at the beginning. Then as I read more, I started jumping around. Googling bible quotes on different subjects and instead of reading just that one verse sometimes reading the whole chapter or book that contained it. I found that the less I had the more thankful for things I became. The more thankful I was the more God gave me. I didn't just wake up and say, "Thank you." anymore I really meant it. Just last weekend I started to feel loved again. The overwhelming God given love that we are all supposed to feel all the time. I don't mean loved by a person, I'm lucky I have that all the time, but when your in the midst of depression that love doesn't penetrate the walls you build around yourself. You have to delve deep within yourself and find Gods love. I'm sure it's out there for each one of us. We all must travel that path, and travel it alone. For even if we're surrounded by loved ones, unless we're happy and feel loved by God; learning to love ourselves we will never be fulfilled. We are each and everyone of us a beautiful individual on the inside. For we are made in his image, so how can we not be wonderful and perfect. Don't let the mean things that comes out of others mouths bring you down, for they mean nothing, and most of the time it's a lie brought on by their own insecurity and pain.
I am, done for today. I'll get off my soapbox. On I must go completing things that need completing, tomorrow I will be creative.  Let me leave you with a message. I am glad that you came to read my blog. I am positive something is changing in your life. Above all know that you are loved, as you are now, and as the person you are on the road to becoming.
-Namaste

30 days of motivation!

I want to offer up a 30 day challenge. My 45th Anniversary of being on this planet has come and gone! I am okay with who I am. I like myself, but I could stand with some improvements. So, I'm going to challenge myself to become someone new. I love myself, but I want to be more. So, I'm going to challenge myself to become someone new. The road to someplace different means you need to change the direction your heading in. Tip one, when changing your diet patterns instead of saying, you can't (which implies failure) say you don't (which implies dedication). I don't drink soda (diet or otherwise). Tip two, simple physics, "A body in motion stays in motion." Is there a reason you feel drained after sitting for 8 hours in front of the computer? Um, yeah, cause your not doing anything, get up and move around! Did you ever notice when little ones start to get tired and are fighting sleep because they are having so much fun? They refuse to sit still. They bounce, they fidget, the get LOUD, but above all they keep moving. So get LOUD! Bounce around, fidget, tap your foot, do stretches, buy a tall mobile desk if you have to stay in front of your computer. Tip three, supplement. Find out if you have any deficiencies. My chiropractor, Tip three, picture yourself healthy, waaay back in the times of little polka dot bikini's our predecessors told us to glue a picture of our head onto the body of what we want to look like. I say don't do that because vision is so distorted, as is self image. Do, however, picture yourself stretching farther (while your stretching too), running harder, feeling better. Feel yourself healthy, put that picture in your mind. I'm going to stop right there for today, I'm off to do my training for the 5k this spring. The Color Run in Ypsilanti! Can't wait! Peace and Blessings to you my friends.

Yesterday and Today

Yesterday is behind me but I got quite a bit accomplished.

It was my 45th birthday! I still don't know how I feel about this birthday, but I can't do anything about it. It is what it is. Moving on, bowling, something else I have no control over. I'm consistant, that's one thing, consistantly bad. I give it a valiant try non the less. I have some more people interested in silk screened team shirts, so I have to spend some time on some designs today. Promoting the Christian bowling league, how fun is that!

During this weekend, I was able to spend some quality time with family, and anyone with teens knows that's a feat in itself. Finding some time wasn't as challenging as I thought as I was still able to do some odd jobs around the house. Hung a mirror, put some of my bathroom back together. Completed the caulking around the tub and installed some splash guards. Here's the pictures. Remember this was the before:

I don't really know what the day will hold since it's a blizzard outside. But I'm sure it will be packed with lots of stuff.   First "stuff" on the agenda of course is getting ready to teach the decomesh wreath class for the Women's all nighter at Church. Have a safe productive day my friends!

Wild and Wacky Wednesday

Well today is going to be wild indeed! Why, because that's what I want so that's how it's going to be. See how that works? It would have worked the same had I said, "Oh man, it's only Wednesday, what a crappy day." Now that I think of it, why do we always say, time flies when your having fun, by the laws of attraction wouldn't that make the day go quicker? How bout, the day is dragging? Why would you want a slow day to go slower? So if it seems like a day is dragging on why not make it fun. How perfect would that be? A perfectly slow, fun day. Try it some time, when you're having a blast, try saying, "Wow, this day couldn't go any slower." ;) Now on with the list for today.



Operation Organization Day 5:



Just to let you know, I have not been slacking. Monday I spent all day working, then scraping the bathroom ceiling. There were horrible ugly discolored cracks in the plaster above the tub,



BEFORE





AFTER

and Chris (Landlord) said he'd get if fixed. 

Let me say,"WOW" That was fast. Tuesday the painter arrived, was impressed that I did such a thorough job, and went to work. By the end of the day, the mess was cleaned, and the trim back up. So today would probably be a good day to clean and organize something in the bathroom. First on the agenda is the bathtub caulking. How's yours looking? This is a job that unfortunately needs to be done every few years in an older house. The better the job, the longer it lasts. I'm getting pretty good at it too. Did the cabin up north last year, spent a good hour scraping and digging, then used the precaulked bathtub trim. That stuff is pretty neat, but I don't think that's a product Chris wants me to use here. So old fashioned way it is. Here's the before shot.

 As this is a job you can't rush, tomorrow will have post the after shot. By doing a little research here's a link to where you can find quick tips on how to do it. There's tons of howto's out there but I found +Ron Hazelton to be the best video. Shows how to do it quickly and correctly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XIf0deyzx4

 Make sure while you in the bathroom to check the fan for dust. Go through you medicine cabinet and toss expired meds. Don't flush them please, some pharmacies will take them from  you and dispose of them, or crush them up mix in coffee grounds and put in the trash.



In the "D"

Well that's it, today wraps up the holiday season for us. All the Christmas clearance is over, my house is put away. At Aunt Tracey's, Lynn and Mitchs. Looking forward to seeing the whole family. Babies are getting bigger, little ones are turning into young adults, young adults are getting wiser. Life is good. Running to the mall to exchange some things. Missing Aunt Randee and John. Hope they're having fun in Utah. Yesterday we went through Aunt Tracey's wrapping paper and organized it a little for her. Getting more ideas for the blog next week. If you have any leave me a comment. I'm wanting to go through the chemicals in my house and clean them out. I have two areas under the sink and in the basement. Have to expend my plan a little and make a weekly list. Making lists is helpful, but I haven't gotten around to it yet.
So, enjoy the weekend. Be safe and picture posting is the first order of business on Monday!

Oops stuck on Day 4

So needless to say I got a little behind. You see I was in the kitchen looking at my drawer, and wondering hopelessly how to rearrange it due to it's weird curved bottom, ...yep still lost, I'll post pics Monday, meanwhile, going to clean off the top of the fridgerator and scrub it down. Have a good weekend everyone!

Operation Organization: Day 4

Operation Organization: Day 4

Today would be a great day to clean out the silverware drawer and fridge! Take a bath towel and dump your silverware tray onto it so you can scrub that sucker clean. How does a drawer that stores clean utensils get so dirty? If needed replace the drawer liner. There's some great alternatives to dollar store drawer organizers. Check out these ideas!

Lowe's Kitchen Organizer

Ikea drawer organizer

You can also go to your local hardware store and by some wood and do your own cuts if your handy. Handy I am, but short on disposable cash is also a trait I possess. So, check out this really low cost solution I found on pinterest! This person is oh, so organized. I can't wait to attain her neatness!

http://squarepennies.blogspot.com/2012/09/10-ways-to-organize-small-kitchen.html

For now be content with a quick drawer clean, toss out the stuff that got lost in the back that you forgot you had. (If you've done without it this long, chances are it's not that useful a tool.) Check that puppy off your list. A quick wipedown of shelves in the fridge and toss out yucky food. Trash day is tomorrow! While your at it might as well scrub down the outside real quick as well. There's a pile of cookbooks on top that need to be stowed!

So quick recap on what I've got accomplished so far. (and just a side note, but it's a wonder anyone reads this mess, definately a little scatterbrainedness going on here) I can see by my previous posts that I may have wandered slightly, and my opion is so far, organized, this project of a more organized life is not. But hey, it's a work in progress, how many blogs have I read that give me a step by step, I fall behind and then scrap the whole idea all together? Also, none of my projects will be extensive, as we are renters. Or as my awesome landlord calls us, homeowners that rent. I say awesome, because I owe him a few kudos. He's done a lot for this little house and us lately. Installed natural gas, so no more propane bill. Installed a new septic system. Went out last night and bought a router for our internet, and is sending a painter over to fix the ceiling in the bathroom. Great guy he is! I don't know how I can be so blessed, what more can a girl ask for. A wonderful husband that knows and does whatever needs doing when I can't (cooking, cleaning, laundry are all part of his repertoire), absolutely wonderful, basically trouble free, christian children (er, young adults), cool as cucumbers neighbors/landlord. Blessed! Like I said. Ok, Jack, reelling it back in here. Back on track... recap... right. Okay, so we have the house deChristmas'd until next year. Everything is stripped bare at the moment, awaiting my design talents to kick in. I have a blueprint of what I want to accomplish and approximately how long each project will take me. A quick cleaning is all I have accomplished so far, nothing too detailed. Tera must have read my blog because she did her clothes all on her own. (Great job sweetie!)  I haven't bought any spacebags yet, will be swinging by the store later to check it out. Getting a handle on all these clothes is a little daunting, and may take a little more time then what I had anticipated. So I'll break it off into smaller chunks to be accomplished with an appropriate deadline. Working on an actual written plan that I can share here. A smaller "definately will be able to do in a day" project is on the agenda for the day, along with 10 hours of work, chiropractor appointment, and quick stop shopping trip. Yesterday I was able to do my day one return to training for a 5k workout. One mile, 20 mins. Gotta start somewhere.

Today I want to say, when you're out and about in life, smile. One simple act of kindness can mean the world to someone you don't even know. May the love of God shine through you and around you all day my friend. Have a great one!

Operation Organization Day 3

Operation Organization Day 3: Too Many Clothes

Starting in my daughters room on a clean bed, I will empty out all her drawers and place her clothes in catagories on her bed, out in the living room there will be a hanging rod with all her hanging clothes. She needs to go through and put away everything she wants to keep in the multitude of drawers that she has, and she has a lot of drawers!
Sons room, same same, although less intense for him, I'm hoping, because he went through his clothes right after Christmas and got rid of a lot.
Our room, yucky, I don't have closet doors yet so that will be easy, but we have board games in my husbands little cubby closet that i'm going to put in the pie safe. So that little closet is on the hit list, and I'm removing the shelving from the main closet. I'm also going to find curtains to hang for now until i can get doors.
I'll post pics tomorrow, as today I'm still cleaning up the Christmas mess, we have painters coming in tomorrow to fix the ceiling in the bathroom.

Have a wonderfully blessed day y'all.
p.s.
She beat me too it. :)) Yay!

Operation Organization: Day 2

Ok, day too finally has arrived! WOOHOO! This is great, I'm checking out all of Ruby Gettinger's websites, blogs, and fbooks, and I know this woman is a friend! You go Ruby! You Rock!  You are a rock..an inspiration...a role model. I have one of her pics above my desk it reads, "I put my hand in yours and together we can do what we could never do alone..." I LOVE IT! It means so much. So let's get to doing, and leave those procrastination demons in the dust! "Petew" I spit on those demons and all the rest that try to get a clawhold on my life. You can't touch me! I am renewed! I am a child of God, the almighty! Get thee behind me you ole devil, I'm blazin new trails today!

 

Now, for a quick break to quiet my soul, and let my Lord reveal to me where he is so that I may join him and do great things! (Insert your daily prayer here).
Now we can forge ahead with our day in our right minds, bringing glory to God in all that we do.

Day 2 Operation Organization:

DeHoliday the house, and give it a clean scrub down. - Although I have one more Christmas to celebrate with family, my tree is done for. Pine needles litter the floor. Just the breeze of you walking by causes a few more to let loose their precarious hold of their branches. So, as there is no one coming to my house, I'm going to give it a good scrub down today. Laundry, sheets, vacuum, dust. Everything gets a shiny new coat of furniture polish and I'll have empty spaces that I can use for future operations. Day 3 will encompass all of our clothes, so I'll need big spaces in all the rooms. Get your boxes/garbage bags ready also for day 3- ragbag, toss, donate. Going to Meijer later too, going to see if they have spacebags there, cheap.

So I'm pulling up all the boxes from the basement, packing them carefully, cleaning things that need to be cleaned before carefully wrapping them up for 10 months. Then I'll start by gathering my cleaning tools, I have a nice big carrying case that holds glass cleaner, furniture polish, an assortment of rags, sponges, greenie weenies(those scrub pads),  and a few shopping bags to be used as garbage bags, etc. I start at one end of the house and work my way to the other. Set a timer in each, no more than 15 mins per room, gather stuff that doesn't belong into a bag, put trash in another, quick wipe downs of everything, vaccume, then on to the next room. There will be time later for a more detailed cleaning, but that's another day. Today is the day to get the whole house back to square one. So, ignore those piles of papers for now. When I get to a messy kids room. I strip the bed first. Then, everything that's laying on the floor will be picked up and put on her bed (she was told several times during the holidays to get her room clean, chances are gone now!) Although, dirty clothes will be removed and put in the laundry room. Remember the key is 15 minutes per room! No more! So don't get stuck, you can do this. (oh, and we won't be mopping today either) I have a cheapie little vaccum cleaner that is wonderful on barefloors. Mopping is for deep clean day for that room. Monday is never a deep clean day for any room!
Ok, get cracking and I will see you tomorrow. May God bless all that you do today in his glory!

Operation Organization: Day 1

Happy Holiday! Not not, but why not? Instead of putting ideas in the back of your head for next year, why not just get them done! I don't know about you but I'm still in the holiday spirit, now that all the stress of it is done, I can sit back, relax, and putter around.

Today, sigh, is my first day back to work. Christmas is winding down to a close until next year. I don't like that. I still have so much to do. I found these cute spoon paintings on pinterest and here's my rendition of them. So that's what I'm doing while I'm working. It's a quiet day, so I'll have to spread some activities out amongst my hours to stay alert. These are very special spoons to me. Bob's granny had them in a box in the garage with other assorted silverware. When we were cleaning out her house getting ready to sell it, no one wanted that sad little box. Over the years that box has dwindled down to a dozen or so spoons. So needless to say, (spoiler alert) These first spoons will be going to various family members.

Placed sporadically into my day shall be "Operation Organization: Day 1, The Game Plan"
The Game Plan shall include areas that I need to work on first. Like the basement, and the attic. Then there's the storage unit. So many of these days will be filled with different projects, shared from multiple sources. Blogs, closet organizing systems sites, pinterest, maybe some stores like IKEA, you name it! I would like to have this all buttoned up by summer, so I'll have to come up with a deadline as well. I think the first thing to tackle is my desk, and office files, billing, budget and the like for the year 2013.

So let's get hopping. Clean out that in box, do all your filing, throwing out, and tomorrow with a clean slate I'm going to set up a different system. A new filing system, and the way I handle my daily mail, and appointments. All with some beauty and inspiration. Here's some ideas from pinterest, Tatortots, and Jello, and even Real Simple. I'll get better at giving my bibliography at the end of my posts, but for now this will have to do. Start doing some research on your own and see what fun change can be. Results of my hard work will be posted tomorrow. Here's some ideas to get you started.
 http://dawnathome.typepad.com/by_sun_and_candlelight/2009/06/the-care-feeding-of-the-file-crate-system.html
love her system! Why? Because it's completely different from mine. Mine is broken down into accounts, The bank file has blank deposit slips, the insurance file carries the copies of insurance cards, and so on. I've been doing it this way for 15 years or so, and I think it's time for a change. So google some organization tips and get started!
Remember to thank God daily and ask for his wisdom and guidance in all aspects of your life.

Bring on the New Year!

Happy New Year to all my peeps. I love you all. If you've touched my life at all you're always in my heart. I wanted to put a thought in your brain concerning this wonderful time of year.

First off we had to deal with this "End of the World" issue, I don't know how many times in my life I'll have to hear so and so date is the end. It's getting a tad mundane to say the least, I didn't even buy a pack of emergency water for this one honestly. The Mayan's were pretty smart but I wasn't banking on the translation being correct. Montel Williams put the first thought of a different translation into my head. He said, during his talk show years ago, before he disappointed me with his commercials pushing payday loans, (which, by the way, is a horrible way to borrow money), that it would be the "End of the world as we know it." That one was a little iffy as well. However, here's my thought...

The world as I know it is/was, up to today, (Jan 1, 2013), kind of crappy. don't get me wrong, it had it's good times, it's blessed times, but honestly lately, there are certain pieces of it that have been disappointingly disappointing. I reitterate because it's better than saying it really sucks. I won't get into details, because that's not the point of this entry on my blog. The point is, The end of the world as I know it? Why not? I believe in some aspects of the law of attraction. I buy into Wayne Dywer's theory that God is in the creation business, therefore you get what you ask for. So my twist on this is, if it's all mine to request, then I want the good stuff from now on. No longer is the world going to tow me along it's timeline. I am going to lead a life of purpose and meaning, and if I stumble, well that's okay too.

With the help of God I expect that the rest of my days will be blessed. There's lots to do, so let's get started! There's a place for work, reading, editting, playing, training, organizing, but most importantly I'm going to listen to what God has to tell me. When the devil puts in those little stumbling blocks, I'm going to sail over them like a gazelle.  So if you're one of those people that think everything bad happens to you, adjust your thought process. Maybe you go through struggles to learn lessons from God, but have you ever thought that bad things always happen because you keep saying, "What next." or "bring it on." QUIT ASKING GOD TO GIVE YOU MORE BAD STUFF!!! just accept the good, the bad, and everything else in between. Keep your eye on the prize and carry on smartly. Because, I do believe that that was the end of the world as I knew it, everythings going to be new and different.

Let's get together on this and enjoy the ride. Through Christ all things are possible. God loves us so much that he sacrificed his son for our sakes, so that we may have a closer relationship with him. He knew we were imperfect and couldn't live up to his holiness, so he gave us a loophole. Why wouldn't anyone grab that loophole. If he loves me that much then there's no way that he can love me less, our cause me pain. Bad stuff just happens, it's ours to decide how to deal with it. Chalk it up to experience, dust yourself off, stand tall, and keep on going. Happy New Year my beautiful peeps, I love you all and wish you all the best this year and the following. May God bless you and keep you all the days of your lives.