Purging

As happens every so often, I am in the mood to purge.  I have a tendency to keep clutter.  I am much better now than in the past, but I am still a work in progress.

My philosophy on clutter is this: only keep those things that are used, loved, and special.

I am especially bad about paperwork clutter.  I do throw away junk mail as soon as I get it, but it's those other papers that I might need that get put into a mail holder, and it gets more and more stuffed. Ideally, they would be filed away.  Needs to be a weekly task...I'll have to add that to my planner.

My closet is another area that I have to stay on top of.  Everyone has those particular items that are favorites and go-tos.  Then there are those things that get pushed to the back and never worn.  Sure, you need those specific special occasion items, but past that, why keep that blouse that just doesn't look or feel quite right?  Give it away or sell it.

I am also bad about the tiny things in my house.  Half-used tubes of lip gloss, a trinket that I got somewhere or someone gave me that's piled in a basket with other forgotten trinkets.  These are the hardest.  I tell myself that it's pretty, that I might could put it somewhere... But alas, it stays in that basket or that junk drawer.

I have also been thinking about presents.  As I get older, I find that I don't want "stuff" for presents.  Sure, there is always a couple things that I want, or that I could use, perhaps for the house or my office, etc.  But most of all, I want to make memories, or have small gestures of love and thoughtfulness.  I feel as though I am giving others clutter too.  I am looking for ideas for presents that would be meaningful and useful, without adding to someone else's clutter.

What ideas do you have?  What kinds of gifts do you like to give or receive?

What's Up Wednesday 6/24

Hello faithful readers. Here's another installment of What's Up Wednesday.

My sister got married!!!- This past weekend was spent doing wedding-y things as my sister got hitched.  She had a fairy tale wedding, complete with Cinderella dress and horse and carriage! Can't wait to see the pictures!

Swagbucks- I redeemed my first gift card today!!! $25 Visa gift card for 2,200 points.  And I still had some to spare. I am going to save the gift cards for Christmas presents. Here's the link if you want to check it out.

Proverbs Bible Study-  I am a bit behind! I have been doing my morning devotional, but I got a tad behind over the weekend.  I need to catch up.  I should be on chapter 8 today, but I am at chapter 3.

Happy 1st Premier Birthday to Me!- Today marks the year anniversary of being a Premier Designs Jeweler! I love everything about Premier and  I am SOOO excited about going to National Rally and seeing all the new jewelry! Ready to hit the ground running in July.

Theme of the Moment-  Rest! The weekend was so busy, I am trying to catch up this week.

Picture of the Moment- 

What's Up Wednesday 6/17

Here's what's up since last Wednesday:

 Goal Planning Workbook- during my "Make Over Your Mornings" course, one lesson was about goals.  The resource that was listed for extra study was from the Creative Home Keeper blog. She has a Goal Planning Workbook to help you create specific and actionable goals. You can find the workbook here. I printed it two on a page, so that it would fit in the back of my mini binder planner.

Swagbucks- I am still "swagging" away! I am up to 2,100 points.  My goal is to get to 2,500 points within 60 days of joining so I will get a $5 bonus gift card. Almost there! If you are curious about Swagbucks, or want to sign up, click here. I will get referral points if you sign up at that link.

Proverbs Bible Study- My dear cousin posted a link to a Proverbs Bible study on Facebook and asked if anyone wanted to join her.  It is one of my goals to have a devotion every morning.  I am already signed up for the Proverbs 31 Ministry emails, but I wanted to do a bit extra.  This study is done by the Good Morning Girls at Women Living Well Ministries.

Theme of the Moment- Setting goals.  I want goals that are realistic, specific, timed, and actionable, so that I might actually reach them!

Picture of the Moment-

Update on My Mornings

I mentioned last week that I am doing a 14 day eCourse called "Make Over Your Mornings" by Crystal Paine.  The purpose of the course is to help you make the most of the time you have during the morning to set your day up for success.

I am on Day 9 today.  I have learned a lot so far, and tried to implement the great tips and ideas that Crystal outlines in the short videos and companion guide.

I haven't been terribly successful yet, however. I am still waking up at the last possible second, rushing to get ready, and heading to work.  I do have some quiet time when I get to work, which has helped, but I still want that time at home instead.

I think a large part of the reason I haven't been successful in getting up on time is that I don't go to bed early enough.  This past weekend, I went to the beach with my sister and her two friends.  It was a great weekend and very relaxing, but we didn't get much sleep while we were there.  Yesterday, it was all I could do to not nod off on my desk at work!  I was so tired.  So I promised myself I would go to sleep early last night.  I did fall asleep on the couch around 9, but woke back up again, and didn't get into bed until 11:30 or later.  Then when my alarm went off at 7:15, I still felt like a zombie.

I will probably do this course again for another 14 days, and hopefully be more successful in implementing my morning plan.

What's Up Wednesday

To be more intentional about blogging, I have decided to do a weekly scheduled post on Wednesdays, called "What's Up Wednesday."  Just a brief post about things going on, what I'm reading, what projects I'm working on, and new products or deals I've found.

So to begin my inaugural post:

Planner-  Recently I posted about the planner I have made for myself this year.  I love the contents, so now it's time to start utilizing it! I have filled in the monthly calendars until the end of the year and marked important dates, birthdays, holidays, appointments, etc.  I have also started utilizing the daily planner page.  I love that it helps me to prioritize what I need to get done.  There is never enough time in the day to do everything that I want to do, so making sure I get the important things done first is great.

"Make Over Your Mornings"- This is a 14 day online course that is all about making the most of the time you have in the mornings and having a better start to your day.  It is not all about how to get up early (and though I could probably use some tips).  This is written by Crystal Paine, the author of the Money Saving Mom blog. You can find more info about the web course here. You work at your won pace and it only takes 15 minutes, but I am really enjoying it.

Choose Gratitude: Blessings Journal-  Also from Crystal Paine, I have bought her Blessings Journal.  I gave one to my mother and sister also, and hope we can go through this journey of being more grateful for what we have in this life, even if it doesn't seem like much.  When you look for things to be grateful for, you find so much that you've been given! You can get your own Blessings Journal here, or just find an empty notebook and start writing!

Theme of the moment: Be Intentional-  This applies to work, planning my days, and to my Premier business.  If you are not intentional about what you are doing, you will not accomplish your goals!

Picture of the moment-

Might be TMI But...

So, I was too excited about this and I can't help but share. You may not care, but hey, this is my blog, so I'm going to go ahead anyway.

I have found THE bra.  The most comfortable bra I have ever put on my body.  If you have ever struggled with a holder for the girls, you will understand.

The name of the bra is Bra-lelujah. I love that. Spanx makes these bras.  Now, at first hearing this, Spanx does not bring about feelings of comfort, but rather of being squeezed to death so you can fit into that dress.  But, I tell you, they are awesome bras.  The straps are made of that same hosiery material that is stretchy, but doesn't dig into your back or shoulders or cut you in half.  They are front closure, so no hooks to pinch or stab. It feels like you aren't wearing one, while still providing support and a nice shape.  The best part? No bra fat rolls! You have to check these out here. I found mine at Dillard's and tried it on.  They are not cheap, but they are worth every single penny!

So, from one gal to another, I just had to share. :)

Mini Binder Organizer

So very excited to show this to you.  I made my own calendar/organizer.  And I LOVE it!!!

I started looking for cute planners on the internet.  Mostly via Pinterest.  I saw some really cute ones, but most of them were $30+ and didn't have exactly everything I wanted.  So I started looking at free online printables.  There are a TON of free printables out there for pretty much anything you might need.  I just kept Pinteresting and Googling until I found ones I liked. I came across The Scattered Squirrel blog.  She has so many printables in cute colors! I chose the half size monthly calendar and the half size daily to-do.  Then I also came across The Polka Dot Posie blog. I loved her small home management planner pages!

These seemed to fit what I was looking for, at least for now.  I'm sure there's a million other pages that I could add.  That's the beauty of this system too, you can add and remove.

Ok, here's the materials I used:

1" Mini Binder from Walmart $5.97

Mini binder filler paper Walmart $2.44

Mini binder write-on plastic dividers Walmart $2.88

Three hole punch

    

Paper cutter or scissors

Either personal printer, or library/office store to print sheets 

Free/$0.25 per page.

*I used the library on campus because my el cheapo printer will not do borderless printing.  This was needed for the home management printables to come out right.* 

Ok, so I printed out all my pages, then cut the pages in half with a paper cutter.  It is so much easier with a cutter, but you could use scissors. 

After I hole punched all the pages, I assembled them in my binder in the order I wanted, using the tab dividers. Simple.

And here's the finished product!

No cover page needed because this is pretty on its own!

The first page is emergency information. There are pockets on the front and back cover for loose papers, coupons, etc.  You can also buy mini binder page protectors and pockets if you need them.

Doctor's office numbers for quick reference.  See the pen holder on the back cover? Nifty!

Make note of any annually occurring appointments

Special dates such as birthdays and anniversaries

Quick reference for holidays upcoming and past

The second tab is my monthly view calendar. I prefer this to weekly so I can see the whole month at a time when planning events, appointments, etc. I color code this calendar with my colored Sharpie Pens. Black for the month and numbers for the dates. Blue is friends and family, Pink is Premier, Orange is work and school, and Green is finance.

The next tab holds my favorite page! I love to do lists, and the record of phone calls, emails, or texts that need sending. A great tool for goal setting, prioritizing, and using your day efficiently!

Third tab is to do lists. My favorite! Good for those longer term events going on, that go past just one day, or packing lists, grocery lists.  Any lists!

Fourth tab is a place to keep track of contacts.

And finally, this last tab is really neat too. It holds pages like this 

list of books to read...

Movies to see...

 Recipes to try... 

So for about $12 (plus the cost of printing), I have a totally customizable organizer, that I can reuse each year.  

What do you think?  Do you use paper planners or digital?

Getting Organized and Healthy

As of Monday, I started on a diet.  I have really been trying to stick to one for about 2 or 3 months now, but I wasn't very strict on myself.  I would let too many things slide.  So on Monday, I started a modified version of the Special K diet.  The Special K diet has you eat a meal product for breakfast and lunch, two snack products, and a reasonable evening meal.  There are some pretty good tasting products now, as opposed to when I tried this diet years ago. (Tasted like soggy cardboard then.)  I usually do a Protein Shake in the morning.  They have mocha flavored ones that are really good, and I feel like I'm drinking iced coffee.  Then for lunch, I will do a bowl of Special K cereal, or a meal bar.  I'm not a huge fan of the meal bar, as the texture is pretty grainy, but the chocolate flavor one is bearable when I need a meal on the run.  The snack products I usually choose are the fruit crisps and the granola bars.  They come in all kinds of flavors and the texture of those are much better.  I also try to stick with the protein versions of their products.  Then for dinner, I try to stay within 300 calories or so, depending on how many snacks I've had that day.

I am tracking everything in an app called Lose It!.  I really love this app.  You set a goal for yourself using your height, weight, and how many pounds you want to lose a week.  Then it tells you how many calories a day you can eat to accomplish this goal.  You can also track your exercise for the day, and it adds however many calories you've burned back to your daily calorie limit.  The cool part about this app is that it has a huge database of food, and you can scan the bar code on anything that's packaged. It's a great way for me to keep myself accountable for how much I am eating.

I am also doing my best to exercise.  Going to a gym is an anxiety producing event for me and it is expensive, so I opt to walk outside or use the stationary bike that we have at home.  That way I can be in the air conditioning when it's so hot or raining, plus get some TV or internet time in.  Like I don't have enough internet time. Ha.

In addition to my quest to get healthy, I am also on a quest (as always) to get more organized.  I found an awesome calendar last year.  It was peacock blue, and I loved it.  But it was an academic calendar, so I am in need of a new one. I decided to try my hand at building my own planner with a mini binder from Walmart for $5, and free printables from online.  There are a TON of free printable for pretty much anything you might need.  And most of the time they are free, or very inexpensive.  The calendar I purchased last year was over $30, so I was looking for a cute but inexpensive alternative.  I am excited about getting it done, and will post about the finished product!