"It's Spring?" or "Snow Out My Window"

Snow Out My Window

Well here it is spring, but it hasn't sprung. Here in southwest Michigan it looks like winter has struck again. So instead of working outside on a beautiful Saturday afternoon, I'm stuck inside. The weather was so icky that I didn't even want to do my grocery shopping. So instead of pouting I pulled the shade down and tackled my office project. With all the heavy lifting done (Thanks to my dear hubby and son) I can now move on to more detail oriented items. I have a before pictures somewhere and will dig them up on a later post. It is a pretty intimidating space, the previous owner was a chiropractor and I imagine it was his office. Someone dabbled in woodworking and there's a whole wall that is a glass display case with cupboards. This as well needs to be updated, I'm just drawing a blank on how to do it at the moment. The space doubles as a guest room, well, not a room really just a twin bed. It works out beautifully for me since I work at home more than I have company. (I've had a teleconferencing position with a work at home company for nine years now.) I work about 15-20 hours a week, and what can I say? It's a steady paycheck at the very least. It may even fund the new clik clak couch I want for the space. So, with a little backstory revealed I'll add that I had placed my furniture in a traditional layout that just wasn't doing much for my inspirational juices. 

I had the twin bed sitting in front of the window and my humongous executive desk stuck in the only available corner. With my back to the door and the window I felt like I was a child again, admonished to the corner for 5 hours a day. So I struck out on pinterest looking for suitable home office layouts to no avail, apparently most people place a small desk at the window. This would expose my back to the door and I have never been fond of being in a symbolically vulnerable position, not in public, and not in my house. I desired a position of authority and control over my environment, so I reached the conclusion that I would use the more traditional office executives layout with the desk smack dab in the middle of the room. Being there I could let my creative juices flow freely and no be unawares when the cat decided to execute a sneak attack. 

With inspiration hitting me from all directions now, it's time to put away all the odds and ends, complete my filing that's piled up, and get to work with the hodge podge of the decorating process.  I have pictures to reframe, a family history display to compose of us and our relatives that served proudly. A dream board to construct, some greenery (fake thanks to my plant eating felines) to put together. I'm putting a deadline on the basics of this plan of 16 days. I'll highlight in my next post my timeline flowchart, ideas, references and pictures of before and after.  

On a side note, and trying not to sound like a nutjob, I'm initiating this new office layout to help facilitate my power of intention. It is my intention to run my/our finances with the thought process akin to running a successful business. After all that's what we all desire in life, financial success. So why do so many of us let our paychecks control us? Instead I believe we should control our paychecks just like Fortune 500 companies control their businesses. Do you pay attention to your finances, daily? Weekly? Do you have goals for your income other than paying bills? Wouldn't that be considered a business plan of sorts? If you have goals in place are you picturing yourself achieving these goals? (This is where the dreamboard comes in to play). So from time to time on our little journey of organizing the home office I may take a jaunt to a more spiritual frame of mind and draw upon great writings for inspiration. These writings will include greats like, The Bible, The Secret, The Power of Intention, and others. Feel free to comment or question I just ask that you keep it friendly and clean. 

Until next time. 

(apologies in advance for not proofreading this article, I'm a little rushed). 

I'm Ready!

Doesn't illness bring you down? Here we go again. Take two (more like two hundred and fifty seven.)
Tomorrow I return to work and I am taking back my life. I have 20-somethings trying to live a dorm life in a real house and as a result, I've allowed them to basically suck the energy right out. My aunt persuaded me into letting the maids go, I'm rehiring them tomorrow. I'm not rich by any means, but the time I save cleaning allows me to concentrate on other equally important things. Plus I really do not enjoy cleaning up after ungrateful people. My thought is that instead of dwelling on the pig pen-ish look of my house, I'll have someone who doesn't care focus on the cleaning and I will focus on the organizing. We moved into this house 2 years ago and it's high time that the moving in is completed. My first task, taking my office and turning it into a cute office/guestroom. I need to replace some furniture and make due with some pieces that are past their prime. I think instead of tackling cinder block walls behind the 80's paneling, I'll take some kilz and seal it then find a nice neutral color to compliment our Naval family history display. My biggest decision will probably be; popcorn ceiling stay or go. Leaning towards "stay" for now.
  It is my intention to return in a day with some before pictures and cost/time analysis. Like I said before, not rich so get ready for a multitude of hacks. Until then, have a blessed day! My author friends will be happy to know I'm back. Wink wink to my fave creative mind!

New update on it's way.

OH. MY. GOSH!

Is it really the second week of February tomorrow? Well if you're anything like me in the procrastinating department you are in the same state of shock I am. I haven't got anything done this year yet! I could blame it on menopause, or depression, or fibromyalgia, all of which fall into the classification that is me. I'm trying hard not to let these things weigh me down and define me as a person. It's a daily struggle. As a Gulf War vet, I have seen the syndrome study and it's pretty scary. All of my symptoms fully line up with the symptoms of this illness. My father in-law thinks it's all a bunch of hooey. Just another excuse for people to get free money. I suppose that's why I've delayed in going down to put my name on the registry. I wonder how much of the symptoms are really related to things like getting older, fatter, and less active? So here it goes:

We're going to annihilate that preponderance. Time to step up to the plate and remove my physicality from the equation. I used to be an ACE certified personal trainer, so I have the knowledge. It's all there in my head. I now have the gym equipment in the basement, a few workout videos, and tons of online freebie resources that I love.  I'm hoping I have the drive to see this through. Half way through typing this and the voice in my head is saying, "Yep, surrre you do. You just ate half a pan of carmel brownies in 3 days." Time to shut that voice up, because today is a brand new day! I'm going to add all the motivational hoopla up and put it in one place. That way I can help others achieve what I am achieving and promote my favorite fellow do-gooders in the process. Stop listening to your inner voices, the naysayers in your life. Believe that you can. I won a free t shirt from Coach K's website which states, "That voice in your head that says you can't, is a liar!" It's a mouthful, but totally true. Shut down that voice with me.

Join me on my challenge won't you? I already am stacking up the people in the support group. My two college girls are on board. They're taking on their own challenge at school. The son is in as he's needing to refocus his energies on losing more weight and being more physically fit for Naval boot-camp in June. I warn you to be cautious of your enablers. Identify them and learn to deal with whatever it is they sabotage you with. My worst one is my husband. He loves saying things like, "I love you the way you are." and "I didn't marry you because you were skinny." ...wait, does that mean he thought I was fat? Because, I was not fat when I married him! ...whoa, see how that could have spun me in the wrong direction. He just has never had to struggle with his metabolism, he works in a very physical job, and is outside a lot. So he brings in the chips and the doughnuts, and whatever else he wants to eat.

I'm putting his shenanigans to bed and moving on, setting my goal compass to it's true north. My goal is not to change my husband, it's to change me. I know for a fact that exercise helps depression more than any med they could prescribe you. That eating healthier shows positive results in overall well-being and appearance. I will keep using the supplements that I feel I lack in my diet for now, and I definitely won't be changing any of my meds without my doctors say so. Personally I have found that there are plans out there already in place that I agree with and they have free resources that I will occasionally link here. My intention for my readers is not for them to deem that what I do is what they should do, they especially should not make any major changes in their diet without their doctors supervision.

If you have a question you want to pose, I will certainly put my best foot forward, and if I can't answer it I will direct you to the person I think is best qualified to.

For now, I'm going to put into place a nutrition plan. I have found that making sure you have a well balanced diet is the first step. So instead of learning to cut foods out of your life, familiarize yourself with the AHA diet guidelines. Then make yourself a food log. First simply record everything that passes between those luscious lips of yours then start planning out in advance what you want to eat to meet your goals. I found in my own personal experiences that when I planned out my days food prior to that day I achieved my goals a lot easier. It also saves a lot of time. You can find AHA guidelines  here. You can also see one example of a meal plan that uses logging as one of it's principles at Body for Life,  here.  Also located under the "tools" section of that site is a log you can print out if you want to put pen to paper. If tech is more you, then visit this next site. Spark People has free mobile app you can use, go here for free membership and tons of info! Last but certainly not least is my favorite web coach!  Coach Koz at Hasfit. He has youtube videos, a following on facebook, and tons of motivation gear and free meme's!

Times up for today, do your research and come back tomorrow to see where I'm at on my journey! Thanks for stopping by.

Merry Christmas

Christmas time has come again!
Decorating, cleaning, working, organizing, making up the Christmas cards, baking, cleaning, shopping lists, cleaning, holiday music, taking care of the animals, cleaning, doing laundry, making Christmas crafts, cleaning, repairing old decorations you can't bear to part with, cleaning. Does this sound like your life? Sure sounds like mine. Oh wait, ha! It is mine. Just remember to take time out for yourself in all the hustle and bustle, It's OK to take a bath and relax, or hide out in the basement and do some meditation. Then get back to the grind, knowing that it'll all be over soon, and you'll be wondering where in the world the time went. Reach out to long lost relatives and friends by dropping a Christmas card or two. We have got to support the USPS by continuing to use them or the price of mailing a letter is going to be astronomical! Plus don't you love when someone sends you a card or hand written letter. You never know just how much it'll mean to someone.
I enjoy reaching out and jotting down a note on my blog now and again, but hopefully I'm spending more time living my life than in front of my computer telling y'all about how I live my life.
I'm hoping to start up on my blog again after the new year with little tidbits and  short cuts that make everyone's life a little better. So if you're out there and you're reading this and are wondering about something, or have an idea for a project, hit me up and we'll work on it together. I'm really excited about this spring when I start on my BTE gardening. If you haven't heard about the Back to Eden gardening, and are interested in gardening more than weed pulling then google it and watch the movie. There are forums on facebook and everything to keep in touch with everyone else that's experimenting with this ingenious way to garden without all the hard work.
I'll leave you with the craft that I did for Christmas this year. I bought clothespins from the dollar store, spray can of white primer, some acrylic paints, a fine tip sharpie for the details, scraps of yarn and felt and some magnets. I recommend you spend the money on a full sheet of 8 1/2 x 12 magnets with adhesive from Promag. (more on this product later). They're an American manufacturer out of Ohio. I found their product at Shopko and am currently doing some testing for them because I ran into some issues with what I bought and how I was using it. I'll do a full write up review on my next blog as soon as my product testing is concluded.
I hope you all have a happy holiday, a very merry Christmas, a happy Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, or solstice. (whatever it is that you may celebrate). Peace be with you all.
God Bless.

Finding Mojo

I think I lost my mojo. I go through the day lethargic. I have outbursts of anger that sometimes don't have any justification. The little things are driving me nuts. The daily monotony of housekeeping is driving me mad! Where did my happiness go? For that matter, I would be content to just be content again.  Does this sound like you? Well the first step is, "Take a step!" that's it, get moving! I looked up the effect that exercise has on a depressed mind and you'd be surprised. In an article posted online by the APA they stated that, "After four months of treatment, Blumenthal found, patients in the exercise and antidepressant groups had higher rates of remission than did the patients on the placebo. Exercise, he concluded, was generally comparable to antidepressants for patients with major depressive disorder." You can read that article here. So if you think you may be depressed but don't want the ugly and harmful side effects of a prescription medication, start an exercise program.
Easier said then done? I've got a few responses for that excuse. In the same article it is proposed that, "When people exercise above their respiratory threshold — that is, above the point when it gets hard to talk — they postpone exercise's immediate mood boost by about 30 minutes, Otto says. For novices, that delay could turn them off of the treadmill for good. Given that, he recommends that workout neophytes start slowly, with a moderate exercise plan." My next response addresses the fact that what keeps us from doing it is, in fact, an excuse. Too many times in our daily lives we talk ourselves out of doing something that could be beneficial to us. For the worst of reasons we self sabotage our good intentions. I'm too lazy, I'm too tired, It's in my DNA to be this way, I'm too busy. I have better things to do, or (and I have found that way too many of us use this one and don't even know it.) I'm not important enough. I have to put my family/friends first.
You may not think that way deliberately but your actions may speak volumes. It's time to take some stock in your life. If you don't take care of you, you can't take care of anyone else. Personally I don't really care how long I live so longevity is not really a concern of mine. (This is probably another side effect of my depression). However, I do know that I am important in my family. I do a lot so that they can have more time to do what they want, but I may have ended up with doing too much for them. So I will start to lead by example.
I can address things that trigger my depression/anxiety and hope that you find some content that you can apply in your own life. Let's get started. Now! Not later.
With all that said, I have developed a plan. #1 daily exercise, #2 daily goals, #3 retrain self sabotaging excuses, and #4 positivity.
I've posted on this blog some of my favorite sites that inspired me when I started jotting down my thoughts. They're still some of my favorites. Regarding fitness, I've found that people use the excuse that they worked hard that day so it counts as exercise. I hate to burst your bubble but it doesn't. Just the fact that your mind was somewhere else when you were doing that negates it as exercise. Now if, however, you've gone into the task with the mindset of exercise, that's a horse of a different color. Remember if you do it that way, proper form is a must. Vacuum lunges, here I come, however that alone does not fulfill my "leg day" requirements. So plan accordingly. Speaking of plans I'll end each day filling out the "Body for Life" diary. On this effective little form is a spot for goals every day. You'll find it here. It doesn't cost anything to peruse this site and check out the cool forms that you can use for your own goals. All these resources can be found in their library. Retraining oneself of excuses and negativity is a tough one. My inspiration comes from several different places that you may not think go together. I think they do, so all I can say is find what works for you. God is my number one resource for finding inspiration to change. We all are working to become the best at being ourselves, I do it for the glory of God. I believe that's my purpose so a daily dose of meditation and reading the good book is where I start my morning. Bible Gateway is a good source of many different versions of the bible if you are so inclined but don't have one of your own. Other places I go are not listed on my page but if you are interested here they are. The Secret, even if you don't buy into it lock stock and barrel just watching the video changes your perception about your life. The other inspiration I've found is a fellow Detroiter turn motivational speaker, Dr Wayne Dyer. I found him while watching a pbs telethon and have followed his teachings ever since. Even if just to get a daily dose of inspiration. Excuses Be Gone is one of my favorite audio books.
So here I go, I'm not going to say I'll start tomorrow, for clearly I've started today. I will share my diary tomorrow listing my goals and progress. If not for readers who may stumble across this site, but for myself because I need a shove in the right direction.  Until tomorrow!

Welcome back!

Thanks you dear readers for reading the latest and welcome back! You are in for a whole new adventure, so much has happened since my last update. We found, purchased, and moved into our new home. It's pretty rural, very large, and located on one acre. My goal is to make our little plot of land not only beautiful, but functional as a major contribution to sustaining our family. The vegetable garden is all plotted out and I'm excited to share it's progress with you. As it is so late in the season much of the garden will be postponed until next season. This summers focus will mostly be on the flower bed in front, and possibly a patioish area out by the barn. I'll be posting pictures and details of different projects both small and large soon. There's much to be done in this house as it's in need of major updating, but I love it. I'd like to start posting twice a week, with my first post hitting the net this Friday. So stay tuned!
I hope you all had a blessed July 4th!

First on the list is my office, shown here in the picture when the house was listed. This is pre-Woolley, standby for the subtle changes as we take over.

Nutritional Resolutions? This blog's for you!

For those of us that are tracking one thing or another in our diets, I wanted to do a quick comparison on a breakfast toast topper that I'm always debating on. Which would you think is better, hazelnut spread or peanut butter?
Peanut butter VS hazelnut spread
The ads on TV tout that hazelnut is much healthier than plain ole' peanut butter. Let's check those facts.
I used Berryhill hazelnut spread and peter pan creamy in my comparisons. I found it very interesting that all the websites are off by a bit on what they're showing the calories and fat counts to be. They're showing a lot less on the Internet. Look at the "real" label when logging your food. If your logging your food the difference could be detrimental
Hazelnut: Serving size 2 Tbs, Calories 210, total fat 14g, sodium 20mg, total carbs 19g, fiber is 1g of that, and sugars 18g, protein is 2 g. Looking down at the ingredient list Sugar is the number one followed by vegetable oil, then hazelnuts (13%), it goes on.
Peanut butter: Serving size 2 Tbs, Calories 210, total fat 17g, sodium 140 mg, Potassium 180 mg, total carbs 6g, fiber is 2 g of that and sugars 3g, protein 8g.
Vitamin wise iron is 2% in peanut butter and 6% on hazelnut, with hazel beating out peanut by 4% in the calcium, but peanut makes a come back by adding 10% magnesium.
My take on all of this is....both are horrible to put on my toast and I won't use either of them again except in recipes. It doesn't matter, if your counting calories, if your tracking salt, checking out your carb intake or sugars, trying to meat a protein guideline...bha ha ha...get it "meat", there are foods out there that are higher in protein value.
What is even more disturbing during all this research is the fact that NUTRITIONAL VALUE SITES HAVE INCORRECT INFORMATION!!!
Every single site I found had hazel coming in lower in fat and calories then it actually was! Note to self, don't take the easy road, look at the actual label yourself!

I am blogging this because I wanted to reiterate how important it is to track things that pass your lips. Whether it's supplements, food, or especially drinks such as water. Do you know how much water to drink in a day for optimum health? Take your body weight and divide it in half us that number and add ounces behind it. That fact is the most up to date and accurate information that I've found. I googled the question thinking that maybe the first lady's new campaign on drinking water for better health would be one of the top responses but it wasn't. That's kind of disappointing, but runs along the same little pattern today of the Internet not being accurate and up to date. I credit my information coming from many sources, I looked them up on US News, Doc Oz, interestingly Webmd is still showing the old 8 8oz glasses of water. So there again, web info very sketchy. Dividing your weight in half has been around for more than 5 years now. Is this a new problem that we're going to continue to run into. Books can be updated and get rotated out at the library. The Internet, it's up there forever, never updated, just hanging out waiting for the collective consciousness to pull it back down into popularity. Not very comforting stuff is it? My suggestion, take your health into your own hands. Log your foods, and use the most up to date information, get it straight from the source. Having peanut butter toast, read the label, having a burger at McDonald's request their information at the counter.
Stay informed and attain your goals!

Holidays and Organizing

Christmas, I hate to see you go. So many people in the world act a little nicer around Christmas. As the stockings come down, the count down board gets cleaned, the baking paraphenalia gets put back in the back of the cupboard, I ponder, is it possible to do a little Christmas something all year? Maybe this year I'll try. After all, I still am working on getting my holiday cards out. (smh) Maybe I'll make them into Valentines cards. So as I box up and move Christmas back to the basement, I'll bring up the Valentine's day box. One cute little box, it's not much but then again, I don't undecorate my house to decorate for Valentine's, like I do for Christmas. Love, it's the most important of our emotions.
So for the next month or so I want to take my organizing on a Love Journey. I want to love God first, then others. It's a little daunting with my resolutions fresh in my head, it's a veering from the path I set myself on for sure. For a while now I've been screaming (inside) "I need ME time!". Then God set me straight. I had an epiphany. Our own Woodland Shores Baptist Church children's minister, Dolly, illustrated to the children how when you have God in your life and you put him first, everything else fits. She did a wonderful spin on a classic science experiment, this time using a canning jar, 22 marshmallows, and 1 cup of rice. It made me reflect on the whole "ME" thing, and I realized. If I fill my life up with God and live for him, he'll make sure that I am taken care of.  He will pour his love into the areas of my life where I don't even know I need them. The alternative, is for me to try to to measure out the what's, and the where's and fill them myself. Experience tells me that always ends badly. I am not saying to blindly go through life doing good and loving God and others first...oh wait, yes I am. More on this epiphany later, but suffice it to say, God first, God last, God always, and as long as your listening to him and being obdient to him the rest will fall into place. It's all about Love after all.
Love: Valentines: Organize
I don't usually blog about food, but this caught my eye on pinterest this year and I thought, "How cute, and healthy!" So here is a nice sweet treat for the Valentine's season that is a little healthier than a box of chocolates. Valentines Jelly Pops.
My organization challenge this week is to continue organizing my household paperwork. I must admit, I am curious about the little scanner that automatically files your papers. I can't justify the Benjamins it costs though. Especially now that we're back on track with our Baby Steps. Yep, that's also top of my hit list this week. Finances. Then I have to read and understand this insurance stuff. That is what I plan on doing, but it's not written in stone. So I'll plug along with my crafts and organizational goals. Fit in a little personal fitness and health. I'll blog it when I can. Pardon the mess while I constuct a more efficient page. I'm still working out this whole blogging thing, and I forsee it getting a whole lot better this year. Hopefully you'll stick around through the growing pains and will still be here when the butterfly emerges.
Update on the whole, "Are you done with this." placecard. Yeah, um, ...it failed miserably. Bob came out of the bathroom, threw it in my lap, said, "No I was charging it." He was referencing his clippers, which for a week now has been sitting on the bathroom counter, plugged in. Then he inquired about where those placards were so he could dish them out for me. I knew that was coming, and I was ready with a witty comeback. Back to the drawing board on that problem. There's got to be a solution, asking them doesn't work. I get that blank look, and a nod, or a prerecorded automatic response. I've debated creating boxes for the three little messes in my house and just start putting their stuff in there that's laying around. Then I thought, "Nope, I don't have boxes big enough, or a nice way to "not" display them." If you've any thoughts or ideas on this matter, I'd appreciate them.
Wherever you are, and whatever you're doing today, and however you're feeling,  know that God love's you. His love is amazing. I may know you, I may not, but know that I'm praying for everyone that reads this blog. May you all feel his love and peace.

Organizational Must Have

Do you spend more than 20 minutes tidying up?

Then this may be your answer!

Now I realize that there may be some repercussions from putting these little tent cards all over the house. I'm also anticipating the "I see your things lying around, do I get to label all your stuff?" response. When anyone else in my house starts picking up and putting things away, cleans toilets, counters, tubs, floors, well then I suppose that would earn them the right to put those out. But for now, I'm reserving this for me.

I'm mass producing these puppies. They're on good cardstock, printed on my computer. If you'd be interested in purchasing them, I'd sell them $2 a sheet + postage. I'll update this blog with the complete cost, but I'm thinking I could probably get 12 in a regular envelope for a regular stamp postage. Message me here if you like it and want some for your house. They're available in a multitude of colors, just ask. Here's a close up shot of the graphic. Of course keep in mind, this was my prototype, so I grabbed whatever cardstock I had handy. It'll be an interesting experiment for sure.

So, this is my organization tip of the day. Time to work on my budget!

2 Days Before My Birthday!

...and that's all I'm saying about that. Honestly when you hit your 40's age doesn't quite matter anymore. At least I don't think so. I haven't kept track of how old I am for a good 8 years at least. My children remind me whenever I get that glazed look in my eyes when someone asks, so I really don't need to remember then do I? I'm sitting today on this particularly cold day in Southwest Michigan staring at my laptop wondering just how I'm going to segway those comments with some organizational inspiration. I think we'll start with the glazed eyeball look. Where exactly does the term "glaze look in your(my, their) eyes" come from? I have no clue and don't wish to speculate, I do however know that it matches the fog that swirls around my head and both things usually happen simutainously. Like when I'm looking at my desk drawers wondering, how in the heck am I going to make this not only an organized mess, but functioning chaos as well.
Google to the rescue!
Googling how to organize a home office works. I found an answer on "How Stuff Works" that will explain it to you if you have no idea where to start, but that's not my issue. I'm very organized, I have labels and bins, and magazine holders and file folders galore. What I need is to get rid of the old stuff, and set up a more efficient way for the paperwork to flow through this space.
Paperwork may be an oldfashioned way of organizing an office, but let's face it, some of us still get paperwork in the mail, and need a way to process this. The estatements are cool, and I write down every verification code they give me when I'm paying bills online. However, I have important, and not so important things that physically cross my desk and need to be organized. I have reviewed a fellow bloggers system and loved it! http://dawnathome.typepad.com/by_sun_and_candlelight/2009/06/the-care-feeding-of-the-file-crate-system.html She does file folders per week for everything and once a year in June she cleans them out and redoes for the next year. I thought long and hard about doing it this way, then decided it wasn't for me. I need to have an account specific file system. If I want to review say my tv satellite provider bills, I do not want to have to remember what week I received it in and try to hunt down the file. I realize and acknowledge that if you have ebills this would not be an issue. It's very tempting to try her system and have everything go electronic, but I'm still to scared to take the plunge. Plus, what in the heck would I do with the other 4 file drawers in my desk? Ok, enough with dragging my feet on this, let's get started.
First I need to look at the flow of my office, and what I don't like about it, then hatch a plan to fix it. This is how I took care of the problem of my OCD and my husband hanging up his hats on the post of the bed. Every night he'd hang his hat on a post, or his pants, (OMGoodness!!! I remember the pants were the last straw!) on the post of a beautiful four poster king size bed. When the grease and dirt form his clothes started rubbing off onto the beautiful wood, I pondered the dilema. The problem wasn't that my husband was using the bed as a clothing rack, the problem was that the bed was presenting itself to be a multifunctioning piece of furniture! So instead of getting mad and trying to change his patterned behavior, I took the ripsaw and cut the posts off the bed. See, problem solved, no more post, no more stress. I've since gotten rid of the bed altogether, but it actually worked out quite nicely and was beautiful in a new way. We downsized to a queen size bed, another one of my schemes, but a story for another day. Point is, I spend a lot of time at my desk, and I get a little freaked when people stand behind me or start digging in drawers especially when said digging boxes me in or squishes me. Remedy, I'm going to move the files to my outside drawer and then now one has to crowd me to get into it. Next, is the file system. Now I don't need the carboard file folders because for $8 at Sam's Club you can get a box of 50 hanging file folders.http://spaceforlivingos.com/2012/10/3-steps-to-organized-files.html. Here's my picture of today's accomplishment. All ready to go for the next year, and another plus to buying all those hanging files, I now have a sturdy empty box to put last years paperwork in. Oh, and store/misc receipts I simply put on one of these and then stick them in an envelope with the first date and the last date on it. Just in case...

I break them down into categories that will serve to organize and where I can dig up info dating back through the year quickly and efficeintly. Example:Budget, bank accts, utilites, income, taxes, medical, insurance, vehicles, kids, pets, storage unit. (I lied, I do use some file folders for each seperate bank, and vehicles, the utilites are filed in their own hanging file. All are in alphabetical order. File categories are given on this organizer guru's blog

Here's before & after:

 

 

A great start, don't give up, it has to hurt if it's to get better!

Yep my office exploded when I emptied some drawers! Don't be afraid, just break out the garbage bags!

 With this mess created, it's time to bounce! See you tomorrow, in a cleaner office I hope.

 

Thinking bout the new year and what I'm going to do with it:

Over the last few years I've had some really interesting epiphanies. Today I'm wondering exactly what I should do with them and trying to get a game plan for the new year. Seems every year I want to be more organized, healthier, richer, more lively, and not only more goal oriented but more goal achieving as well. So this year, as is the norm I scoff at the "resolution" writing and instead am coming up with a game plan to get back to basics.
My plan will include daily visits to organization, cleaning, finances, and health. I realize with the blink of an eye that God can take me down a different road then the one I plan to follow.  Travelling the road is the key though, you can't expect God to take you anywhere if your aren't moving already. My success is based on my obedience to God. I pray for all of us this year that  our ears will be open to his voice, that our eyes will be open to his direction, and that if we achieve nothing else this year that we all learn to love and live more fully. 
Fullness in life is something that is missing for me. I fell into the rut surviving this life, without seeing any beauty. I was convinced that my burden was to suffer through a mundane existence, that my life had already been lived. I've travelled, I've done good, I am loved and love deeply, and still I would sit at this desk and wonder, "Is this it?" "Is this all there is." How many times did I pray to my God, "Okay, I think I'm done, I've done what you wanted, and will do whatever you ask. Have I finally learned the lesson I was sent here to learn? Can I go home now?" Looking up to heaven I've thought that I was ready.
God then started placing people into my life that made me wonder. Where did it go, my passion? I've read and studied and watched modern day inspirations from "regular" however famous people. The "self-help" guru's of our age, and wondered with all the pieces before me, how they all fit together to form the big picture.
My quest now is to find out what moves me. Surely there is something here amongst all my life's messy pieces.
I invite you, reader, to follow my rights of passage into a new chapter in my life. This month as I wrap up our holiday traditions and pack them back in the boxes they usually reside in, I'll be forming the skeleton, if you please. The framework of some sort of routine, that will once again carry me down the road of life. I'm hoping while doing this I'll come across the wheels that will make the journey much smoother. In my minds eye I'm seeing something more along the lines of a travois.

Not the most ideal way to move, but sometimes it's necessary just to start the motion. Ken Davis said in Fully Alive, "A body in motion stays in motion, a body at rest, rests in peace.

Speaking of people that have inspired me to finally put the pieces of this journey together and their works that go along with it, I want to make it very clear that I am a christian. None of these self help authors have actually proclaimed that they are saved. I have been, and I believe there is room in my belief system to add these hints on making my life better, and I believe that each of these people are on to something. Life's "Secret" if you will. So you may have to open your mind a little more than what is comfortable, but as I say when I pass on information from unorthodox sources. Take what you want, and discard the rest.

I leave you today with a list of sources that sometimes gave me epiphanies, but always inspired me to become better at being me.

 

The Bible

Excuses Begone

The Secret

Fully Alive

The Power of Intention

The Tao

How to Get What You Want and Want What You Have

 

Until later, may you have peace my friends.

 

 

 







 

Christmas is coming! Christmas is coming!!!

Well here I am, yeah, I'm still here. Have been working some long hours and haven't had a chance to blog in a while. Marching band season is over and the kids did great! Lakeshore Marching Band - Stevensville took 2nd place in their flight, we're all so proud of them. The next big thing is their France trip to honor D-day anniversary. So today I wanted to talk about our Christmas celebration. Now whether you call it Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, or Christmas, it does not matter to me. I just love the idea of the season! It's great to tie a celebration in with your religion but seriously aren't they all just lumped together and tied into some pagan calendar somewhere. I'm pretty sure scholars are correct when they say that Jesus was not born in December. Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn. I will hang my wreaths, decorate my tree, wear my Santa earrings, take those extra trips to church praying to my God and rejoicing the birth of his son, at the same time I'll try to spread my holiday cheer like a plaque.

Enough with the politics of this holiday and on with the projects! I have the kitchen pretty stocked up and decorated so I'll start baking tomorrow! For now, let me share with you some interesting little projects I've found and shared on my facebook. Some I've found on pinterest, others I've come across accidentally. So let's dig in!
The first one is a favorite fall back of mine: Trash to Treasure!
Folgers has a link on their website sharing free printables for these cute little canisters.

The top on I color copied a napkin onto printer paper, then cut, corner rounded, and modge podged it onto the canister.

The bottom one is from the Folgers site.

I needed to do these to make cookie containers for Bob's guys at the shop. Now I have to fill them with goodies, and soon!











This next one is also from my trash to treasure collection. Found it on Pinterest! Imagine that. LOL
Save up your pop bottles girls/guys and grab your paint brushes. Now for these I literally base coated the bottles with a white satin interior house paint. The other colors I have in craft paints. Black, white, blue, red, green, yellow, and brown. I custom mixed the pink and the orange for the beaks.
My hands shake and I can't paint a straight line to save my life, but "tole" painting is pretty forgiving in that your lines don't have to be perfect, and cover it with spattering.

Go on over to pinterest and look up bottle penguins.

 

Have to roll! Have got to get up early and go to work. Merry Christmas ya'll. Tomorrow I'll start sharing my Christmas trees. I almost have one in every room!  Almost. Nothing compared to my aunt who has 22 trees in her house. She starts decorating them in October.

 

 

 

Where did the summer go!?

I know it was here, somewhere. I have tan lines to prove it. It appears that summer has left the building. This weekend was the beginning of the fall chores, that will culminate when the snow stakes are set in the driveway.  So far the air conditioners are out of the windows. Two windows are cleaned and plastic is attached in the hopes of keeping some of the winter chill out. The living room set and the front glass is cleaned, screens have been stashed in the basement. Did you know that if you live in a northern climate where the winters are bitterly cold that taking the screens off your windows and giving the glass a good cleaning lets in more sun, allowing those warming rays to enter your house impeded?  I'm attacking this monumental task a few windows at a time. I have to clean the north windows, and two sets on the south side and I'll be all done! What a difference it makes looking through clean glass to the beautiful fall scenery.
It's amazing the variety of views that God grants his people throughout the year. Even the desert has it's seasons. I found while doing some digging in the good book, a verse that should help when you feel the winter blues coming on and when things seem to get worse and the world is going to hell in a handbasket. Don't be down hearted for God promised us right from the very beginning, “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.” Genesis 8:22 Let that also be a warning to us, that we should all do our part to help keep the earth safe. That's why I love trash to treasure projects so much! We can do our part, and make something beautiful out of it. I plan on going to the Restore in the next day or so, I believe they have glass blocks and I found some really cool holiday projects on pinterest that I'm going to give a try. However the holiday to get ready for now is Halloween and Thanksgiving! As I was digging through stuff I stumbled across some old squished, dusty old tired looking fall wreaths. Let me tell you if you have something like that, don't through them out! Why do you want to go out and buy all new stuff. I forgot to take pictures while I was in the process of revamping them, but I did take pics of them afterwards. I took these two floral decorations and completely dismantled them, put in new oasis and then wrapped new stakes around the flowers and stuck them back in. With all the handling I didn't even have to clean the silk flowers. Put fresh new bows on them and waalaa! My fall wreaths reborn!

 So don't be afraid to destroy those old wreaths, buy some new ribbon, and flowers and go to town! You picked out the wreath from because you loved it. I don't think that ever changes in floral decorations. I love my oval grapevine wreath and my less than perfect cinnamon broom that never smelled to begin with. If new scent is what your after you can buy cinnamon sticks, eucalyptus twigs, or even essential oils. The main thing is be creative and have fun! Until next project!

Headlong into the dog days of summer Project Organization Continues!

Colossians 1:10 So as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.

What a wonderful inspiration. Yet here I sit, at home, on Sunday, not in church. I feel guilty. I know it's necessary to go to church and fellowship. I am on my own personal journey, trying to grow in the knowledge of God, working on becoming a better person. I love helping others, and my struggle is that I have to remember that sometimes I need to take care of myself. We blur the lines of personal journeys when we are in a family. After being married for over 20 years you sometimes take advantage of the fact that your best friend is right there, and sometimes you forget that you are not "us" that it's important to remain and grow as an individual. Then you get busy in your daily grind and forget that you need quality time together so that "we" become stronger. Life is a great elipse that changes in shape with your days. It flexes, brings some people closer sending other people further away then rolls and changes shape, sending those people away and bringing others closer to the center that is you. You grow by touching others, helping others, inspiring them to grow. Sometimes clawing our way up the hills, and sometimes taking the ride with joy, but always working to make it better. I know it is impossible to attain perfection, but God has given me this wonderful life to make my own, and gave me the power, through him to improve upon myself daily, and although I sometimes suffer with depression, I will always work to improve myself and help others on their journey. With that let's continue with organizing the mess that is my house. Growing in this project and making it flexible enough that I am continuing to make things more efficient without actually effecting the physicality of the structure. We have been approved for a VA loan and are looking for a place of our own. We are still unpacking from prior moves. So condensing and making our house comfortable is still important, but sharing the limelight of our attentions is the endless hours of searching the internet, talking with our real estate agent, and emails. Let's not forget it's band season soon, and within the next month I will be leaving the house to continue my career in call center work outside the home, with an awesome company that helps veterans. The balancing act gets more complicated, and the board of life becomes a little narrower however I have faith that my journey will continue with rich rewards because: "Through God all things are possible."
Today along with laundry I'll be redesigning my master binder. I've made up a new "to do" list and I'll share it and the many sections and individual pages of the binder soon.  For now I had better get to work instead of sitting here putting thoughts to print.

It's been a little while since I've updated my blog, here it goes. Lately I've been concentrating on improving our situation in life. We've been approved for a VA home loan, so now we have to find a house. I have been offered a job, doing something I love (helping people) for more money than I make now, better benefits, and advancement opportunities! God is good! The garden is taking a lot of our extra time, the weeds are growing big and strong! Can't wait for the veggies to start offering up their bounty. I have several tasks on the back burner, and I need a bigger stove! I still have to finish some of my gardening decorations, I have flowers still in their temporary store containers, I have a carpet cleaner sitting in my dining room full of yucky dirty water, and a grumpy husband because apparently I lack inspiration in the cooking department. I sure would appreciate some input there.
On the bright side, I have recently completed editing the next installment of the Bekka of Thorns Chronicles. What an awesome young readers series this is. I love Steve Shilstones imagination! Learn about this great kids series at wildchild publishing. Now I'm working on judging some really good books and I'll have more info on that later. Have a wonderful day y'all! Talk to ya soon!

Bedroom Closet Solution for Renters

 

The problem with my closet is, instead of one long bar at normal heighth and a shelf which I could have worked with. The landlord hung two bars, one about shirt heighth off the floor and the other up so high I had to get on a step stool to hang shirts. Dresses, even the shorter ones of todays style did not fit on either bar. So what do you do? I went online and starting looking up closet organization systems. I really wanted just a plain old set of shelves and 3 bars, 2 on one side for shirts/pants and 1 on the other for longer items. They run a respectable $150 or so for fairly decent ones. Now this is where my husbands voice of reasons starts entering my brain. We live in a rental, so anything I spend of course I would like to take with me when I leave. Therefore, those cute little closet organizers are out of the question. Walking up and down the aisles of my close favorite one stop shopping place I stumbled across those cheapy metal shelves. I wonder..... Ok, there was a chrome bakers set of 5 shelves. You know the ones you see in Sears now in the kitchen area. Chrome is cool, you wouldn't need to dust it very oven because it was very open and airy. Price can't be beat ringing in at a nice $59.99. Size was a little bigger than what I wanted but shoot, my closet is 9 ft wide, I can give up a little space for some nice shelving. Sitting just a few feet away were the cheaper version of "Gorilla" shelves. They're heavier duty, work wonderfully in the garage or basement, and $10 cheaper. This would work! Afterwards when we find a house this one can go just about anywhere. So I picked up this shelf, and knew the next stop was containers. I opted for the cheapy steralite ones, (8) shoe boxes, (3) 6 qt, (2) sweater boxes later and I was skipping to the register with a system that would look nice and cost less than $100. Check it out for yourself! The only thing you have to remember is, if your leaving the bars in the closet during this reorganization, you need to assemble the shelving inside the closet. ;)




I even tackled the problem of not having
 any closet doors.
 

Top rack houses coats and seasonal clothing
items, bottom rack is my shirts.

The second closet in my bedroom had all shelves and since I needed more room to hang things in the bigger closet since I took up all the room with the shelves, I decided to put my husbands shirts in the smaller one. So, I removed all the shelves but two, using the top one as the hanger, and the bottom one for misc items such as overalls, and thick bulky sweaters he never wears.

Quick summertime timeout is over! Game ON!

So had to take a little while off to tend my beautiful daughters graduation. It turned out wonderful and thank you to all who were able to come, and those who sent well wishes. I appreciate my family, blood relatives and extended you are all terrific!
Putting away the empty bowls, leftover decorations in anticipation of Cody's graduation in 2 years, and trying to find all the stuff that I stashed in out of the way nooks and crannies around the house. (if I can remember them all)
Time to straighten up my closets that I worked so hard on. Remember that when you do a major reorganizing project that it's important to go back, straighten it up and maybe change what's not working.
I'm finding that I'm really not too happy about spending more of my check on healthcare and getting mediocure service at the doctors office. I think we all need to stand up against that famous reschedule in 3 months and seriously asking if it's necessary. You'll get the weirdest look from the doctor, but then really they don't know how to answer it. If medically there is something that they need to check in 3 months than by all means do it. However, if, like me, you have an issue that they can't really help with (tremors) and they just want to know if you want to be medicinally treated or if it gets worse then don't waste your money.

Here is the dragonfly I made for the "Restore" what a great place to get craft supplies!
 

So I went to the local Restore by Habitat for Humanity here and talked to the manager about craft ideas. I asked if I had a good idea if I could run it by him and he liked it, then he would supply me with enough items to make two, then I'd bring one back to him for the store to display. He loved the idea and this is the first thing I made for him. Now I have to finish a pet bed out of a drawer! With the weather being so great though I've been working outside a lot, trying to save on money in the long run from our veggie garden.
The garden is just about complete, there are some plants that need replaced and a few more empty spots to fill but it's getting close. Now weeding is a completely different subject, we'll be doing that until well into harvest. What a great workout every other day or more! I'm forever asking friends, would you like to come over and do some squats and finger dexterity exercises? Alas, none take me up on it, but I'm ok with that because this chick is going to have awesome glutes and one heck of a tan by the end of summer.
The beginning of the summer has seen the death of some of our beautiful chickens, I'm sorry to report we are down to eleven. The coyotes are absolutely horrible this year and I am putting a chicken tractor into the planning phase. Along with that project I need to add to my honey do list a compost bin made out of pallets and a chile roaster for harvest. If any of you have ideas shoot me a message.
Still at the top of my list is getting closer to God because I believe that a closer relationship to him and our own development into caring, kind, and loving people is the reason we're here. With that I bid you farewell for now. Until next time! 
Take care all.

This is going to be a real quick post to show some friends of mine my version of some stuff I found on pinterest. I have detailed pictures of the progress from start to finish that I will post in a later blog. But here they are, enjoy!

  This trellis was shown in Lowe's Creative magazine but on a grander and much more expensive scale. This one is a miniture that cost me about $10 the paint I already had on hand.

The topsy turvey planter I found on pinterest and had a blast making. The colors I think will really pop once all my flowers start blooming this summer.

 

Spring cleaning or succomb to the throes of malay?

Hello friends, I'm back on track again. It seems as if my life goes in and out like the tide along the shores of Lake Michigan. I'm jamming along getting things accomplished then all of a sudden something gets me off track then before you know it a week later I'm going, "What the heck happened?" This time, however, I know exactly what happened. My cousins wedding was last weekend! Oh boy, oh boy, what a shindig it was. My feet still hurt from those heels I wore. Congrats Justin and Jamie!
It looks as though the weather will keep me from my walk/run today but as I have some errands to run I'm good with it.
I really have to attack some boxes before Friday to clean out some old kitchen items for the silent auction at the craftathon at church. Then after that I'll be able to return to posting my projects.
If any of you have any helpful hints on Graduation Party Planning, can you leave a comment please. Ter's graduation is coming fast and I have to get some plans in the works.
Meanwhile found some really cool planter projects that I'm in the midst of, here's some pics to inspire you, springs upon us!


cheapy pots from Big Lots!



After a few modifications.

I was looking for some urn pots for in front of the door and really didn't want to spend $20 a piece for ones I was pretty sure were way too big for my porch. Then an idea hit me and I ran with it. Total cost for 4 pots was less then $10 a piece, paint and bolts I already had. WAAALAAA  custom urn pots! $6.98/ea for little trees and I have the beginnings of a really nice looking front door.

Interpretting Lifes Instruction Manual III

The Third and last installment of my Interpretation of what I believe to be key to developing as a christian. I pull direction straight from the bible, here is the quote again. "For this reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." 2 Peter 5-8
I have completed quick researches of the key words in the bible, and certainly there are other quotes of scripture to explain the qualities talked about by Peter. Persevere to do research, add to your knowledge, and grow in the name of the Lord. The last of these qualities are godliness(little "g"), brotherly kindness, and love. For godliness we can really get in to some debate, for we should never place ourselves equal to God, nor above our fellow man/woman. I think that we should not focus on developing perfection. However, we should walk our christian walk as Jesus and to the best of our ability. "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23. That doesn't mean that we should just give up and not try. We wash our cars because they get dirty, knowing that they will get dirty again and need to be rewashed. The same goes for many things in our life, our houses, our bodies, our animals. This is true of our spiritual selves as well. As we try to live godly lives we sin, (get dirty) and need to be washed (forgiven) over and over. We learn the basics of what sin is and hopefully we develop and learn  to not repeat them, as we grow we notice other nuances in life that the Holy Spirit draws our attention to and labels as sin. Godly is defined as conforming to the laws and wishes of God, it does not mean placing ourselves up on a pedestal and acting better than anyone else. If therefore, you are conforming to the laws and wishes of God, then you will be working on brotherly kindness. Brotherly kindness I believe is going through this short life of ours and paying attention to others. I drive my family absolutely nuts, talking to strangers all the time. How else are you suppose to give brotherly kindness unless your paying attention to your brother? If he has fallen, help him up, if she is struggling offer a helping hand. Just go through life not with your head down racing to the finish line, but with your eyes open, looking, watching. Then there's love. John instructs, "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God." 1John 4:7 Jesus says, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another" John 13:34 Stearn warnings from the bible if you do not abide by this principle, "If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen." 1John 4:20
All these principles that are talked about by Peter are guidelines we should instill in all our lives. I want to add to them in increasing measure every day of my life. I am not a perfect person, far from it in fact. I sin daily, I trip, I fall, I get back up and keep on going. It is imperative that we do not quit! For even as Jesus carried the cross and stumble he kept going, and he was headed to death! We can have peace and joy here on Earth. Upon receiving it though, we need to spread it out to others, "Give as freely as you have received!" Matthew 10:8.  If we try to  simple things everyday to improve upon them, we can't help but add them in increasing measure. Personally I want to walk my walk closer to God, he's got AWESOME plans for all of us. Have a wonderful Easter and may we all be renewed in the spirit as we delve deeper into our lives.
Thanks for letting me put thought to blog, and thanks for reading.