Sunday, January 27, 2013

Purse Organization

Well I know I'm not the first to show you how they've organized their purse, but I love how it turned out! I've actually gotten complements about my little purse organization. My purse is small, I don't like carrying around a big purse, especially when I had to dig through it- to find what I  was looking for. Cute huh?? I love it!!!


This is what I can fit into the purse... My Christmas gift- My brand new clutch/wallet, lotion, lip balm, hand sanitizer, my pill case, coin purse, and an accordian file.  I also put my sunglasses and my cell phone in the purse.



I put my credit cards, ID, Insurance cards, cash, and checkbook into my wallet. And if I want to leave the house without my purse, I just pull out the wallet and head out.


Next, my accordian file- I bought this at Wal- Mart a few months ago. I had bought it to organize receipts by month, but my hubby has a whole different system, so it sat there- until I saw this post on the SUNNY SIDE UP BLOG- GENIUS!!! We live in a very small town, the closest mall/target is 80 miles away.... ;(
soo... I made a tab for receipts. Every time we go on a shopping outing, we use this tab to put all our receipts that would otherwise get lost in bags, purse, car, hubby's wallet, etc...  Next is reward cards- We have so many that they would stay behind at times and we would be kicking ourselves, when we missed out on savings. :(   Next tab is gift cards- We got a lot this year for Christmas and I kept forgetting them- finally put them to use!! Next is coupons, then a tab for "lists" - cause I am a notorious list maker!! We make a list of things we need and I put it in there and take it out as I need it. Next is pics and notes- this is where I keep things like window dimensions for when I'm buying curtains or blinds, paint swatches, etc.. My last tab is school stuff this is where I keep receipts from school or lists of things I need to get for a school party, or anything else school related, I need to shop for.




Here's the finished product pretty satisfied with the outcome. :)


 How do you organize your bags??
Till next time,
Michelle

Saturday, January 12, 2013

Plans for Project Life

I have been fighting a very nasty flu bug- which has kept me from doing many of the things I had planned on doing. It has even kept me from work these past few days. But I have some thoughts/ideas on project life and some of the supplies I want to use.
First of all let me just say that I am VERY behind... and you know what.. it doesn't matter- at least not to me!! I'm gonna start fresh and work on my 2012 albums as I go. My approach this year is going to be different, go with the flow type of thing. I tried doing the weekly thing and there were weeks that it worked and others that didn't- it just depends-that's life! So If I have enough pictures to cover the whole week, I will include a weekly layout, if not a monthly layout will do just fine, and if I have a lot of pictures of a certain day or event that will be a layout. I have the idea in my head.. just see how it works out.
As far as my supplies, I still want to use 12x12 black leather albums from We R Memory Keepers. Like these: I LOVE them....



 Source: We r Memory Keepers

I also plan on using Becky Higgins Seafoam kit- It's beautiful!!! And I can't wait to order it. 

Source: Becky Higgins



I also want to use the Marcy Penner Planner pages, last year I used a notebook, but I found that I strayed from it very soon. Hopefully these will help me be more organized. I'm also looking into an app to help me keep my journaling up to date and my pictures organized. I'm still researching which app is best for me, I've seen a lot of suggestions like DAY ONE, PROJECT365, and EVERNOTE. Here are the Marcy Penner pages I have been rambling about.

Source: Marcy Penner



I'm also on the waiting list for the STUDIO CALICO Project Life subscription.. Still waiting on that to see what it's all about. Here are some other tools that are on my wish list.. First is this awesome punch from WE R MEMORY KEEPERS that punches out 3x4 sizes, which perfectly into the Project life page protectors. 
AWESOME!!!




Another tool I've had my eye on is this chomper thing or similar ( don't know the exact name) but it's also from WE R MEMORY KEEPERS...



That's the plan... Still want to order my prints from Shutterfly or Snapfish. Wish me Luck..


GOOD LUCK,
Michelle

Monday, January 7, 2013

Christmas Organization

Now that the holidays are over, it's time to put everything away.... :(
I know.... sad, sad day! But it has to be done.
Throughout the years I have been updating my totes and plastic boxes. Some of the purchases this year was the red Christmas tree bad and the smaller red and green totes. The tree bag is pretty awesome and we were able to fit our 7 foot tree and all the attachments.



This box, I bought it at Lowes, it had cardboard compartments to separate all the ornaments, but for some
 reason it didn't work for me. I bought these shoe boxes that came in a set of 3, there I store all my unbreakable ornaments, I can fit 4 shoe boxes and still have enough room on the side to store tree toppers and other decorations. I put the table place mats on top before closing the lid.



The biggest box we have holds 2 What I call "egg carton" boxes that holds breakable ornaments. Marc's tree and decorations, the nativity scene, and other small decorations.


The next box holds the Christmas bathroom accessories, tree skirt, and 2 more shoe boxes holding Marc's tree ornaments and other decor.

 The last box holds the pillows we use on the couches, Christmas hats, and and stockings.

All our boxes are stored in our barn/ storage room- a God send!!  All I need to make are the labels, but I'm still thinking about how to make them. How do you store your Christmas decor??

Have a great week,
Michelle

Sunday, January 6, 2013

2013 Resolutions

First of all....HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! My hope is that 2013 be full of hope, faith, love, and endless blessings. 2012 was a good year for us and although it ended a little rocky with my hubby being in the hospital, all is good and we are truly blessed. We have our families, wonderful friends, and this little guy, my nephew born 1-9-12. LOVE HIM!!


Like every year, we start our year off with resolutions.... most forgotten by February. But still New Year's is just a new start, kind of a clean slate, I feel the same way in the beginning of the school year. I really have always had the same resolutions.. To lose weight, Be more organized, and have a baby. Every year since I was 23, those same 3.. geez..
Not that I want to blame everything on the CANCER... but that threw my life in a loop and just turned everything upside down and it has taken me this long to finally feel a little normal again- the 18 pills a day doesn't help, but I have come to realize that it is my normal now, and that I have to swallow my big girl pill (literally)!!

My only resolution this year is to be happy and HEALTHY and I think after that everything else will fall into place. I am notorious for breaking resolutions, but I'm determined and really I kind of have to...we both do ( myself & hubby). Being sick seriously sucks.
Here are some of the things I want to do to be more healthy..

1. Drink more water and give up soda all together. Which will be so hard for me, but it needs to get done.
2. Eat better- eat more healthier, home-cooked stuff, eat out less, which is hard when you both have full time jobs, but my food binder ( when I finish it) will help and keep us organized and ready for meals.
3. Exercise- EEK!! I used to love to run, but now not so much.... My sweet hubby gave me something this Christmas that will hopefully help and I'm determined to start on Monday, if this damn cold subsides....



YES, Zumba!! Don't laugh.. but it's something fun I can do while it's cold outside, at least I'm doing something. My hubby walks and runs, but since it's cold.. he promised he would do it with me.
4. Sleep better- I've been known to crawl into bed at 1 am on a weekday... not good! Messed up your whole day!! So I'm vowing to have a better sleeping schedule.
5. Take my pills and vitamins on a regular basis... sounds easy, but it's not!! but I'm writing down my schedule and putting alarms on my phone to remind me to take my pills

Like I said, maybe, just maybe if I  start to get more healthy other things will fall into place... I can maybe start losing weight and help me get pregnant. I've also brought a few books to help me along the way, one of them highly recommended by a friend. She says a lot of the stuff worked for her.. it's worth a try..



Also with healthy comes more ENERGY!!!!and maybe I'll have the energy to whip this little house back into shape... sneaky how I managed to put in my 3 original resolutions in there. I've become a fan of organizational blogs and You tube channels and often find myself saying "wow, why didn't I think of that" or "Gee, that's a great idea" but just tucked them all in the back burner that is my brain.... So while hubby rested I went back and to the blogs, channels, magazine file, and even my pins and started writing all the ideas in a notebook....


Slowly, I'll be doing what I can.. I've come to realize (and it took me awhile, without beating myself up) that my house will not look like those in a blog in one day, one month, or even one year.... my house is by far what I want it to be, but I've come a long way!!! and I'm proud of myself!! I keep adding To-do lists, ideas, and other stuff into my notebook & I love that I have it.
My hubby's other resolution is to be more organized with our finances, so we decided to add a finance tab in our home management binder and make a budget.

And now for the HAPPY LIST....
Just to spend more time with my husband (DATE NIGHT-movies, shopping, once a month & game night once a week!!)
Spend more time with my family ( thinking like a weekday dinner)
Don't sweat the small stuff
Blog more- I love blogs and I have grown to love writing mine!
AND CRAFT MORE... which makes my heart dance!!

I had some Christmas stuff that are too late to post, so I'll have to be mean and post them up till next Christmas, but I have one on organizing your Christmas stuff and another on documenting Christmas memories that I want to put up later tonight and this week...
What are your resolutions???


Have a great year & GOOD LUCK,
Michelle