2014 Goals

         It's already been a month into the new year and I have been busy with work, life, etc. We started meal planning and it's been a chore, but it's been very  worth it. We've saved a lot of money and are eating healthier. I've also been a bit lazy.. my office is still in chaos and the little projects I said I would during the winter month are still undone..
          This year I don't have a list resolutions..this year I have some goals I want to accomplish by the time this year is over. Here are my goals broken down into four categories... BLOG, PERSONAL, CRAFTY/SCRAPBOOKING, HOME PROJECTS..

PERSONAL
1. Organize finances and budget
2.  Meal plan and budget food
3. Organize my time more ( get a planner)
4. Simplify
5. Go to Church more and read the BIBLE.
6. Eat healthier/ exercise
7. Concentrate more on my Thirty-one business
8. Start an ETSY shop
9. Start adoption process/still hoping to conceive
10. Spend more time with my family
11. Incorporate a movie/ game night during the week
12. Limit t.v/ ipad use

BLOG
1. Blog more often.. at least once a week
2. Get a brand new design for my blog
3. Start a teaching blog or incorporate a section/ day/ for my school stuff/ adventures
4. Organize ideas of things I want to include in the blog and a schedule of what/ when I want to put up blog posts.

CRAFTING/SCRAPBOOKING
1.Catch-up on Project Life & finish albums
2. Finally finish my niece's graduation album
3. Start my nephew's baby album
4. Finish scrapbook pages from my old albums
5. Organize scrapbook pages
6. Make spine label

HOME
1. Build front porch
2. Start master bath Reno
3. New washer/dryer
4. Finish organizing lower kitchen cabinets
5. Clear out extra bedroom
6. Organize and finish office
7. Start working on charging station
8. New bedding/ curtains/accessories for master bedroom
9. Organize files, CD's, & photos
10. Paint living room
11. Remove carpet, install flooring.
12. Finish guest bathroom
13. Move LR ceiling fan to master bedroom and buy new living room ceiling fan
14. Re-Organize pantry ( ugh.. one day... i'll get it right!!)
15. Organize MB closet
16. Clean back deck
17. Organize shed
18. Work on yard... grass, plants,trees..build a BBQ area/pit
19. Organize, drawers, entertainment center, and coffee tables in living room

There are other things I want to tackle like organizing/ decorating my hubby's office, organizing my classroom,  renovating my mom's living room/kitchen, and also organizing some areas of my mom's home.. things I want to do for the blog. I also want to do more holiday decor.. already a huge fail with Valentine's day.. Well please come along with me this year as I go through my lists. What are your goals for 2014?


Have an awesome day, 
HUGS... Michelle

BLOGIDAYS WEEK 2

Today I am going to revisit my Christmas planner. You can read all about it here. I had been working on this project since last summer. Finally last Christmas I put my planner to use and let me tell you I don't know how I got along without it. It has helped me stay organized and on budget. Right now I am in the process of updating our planner.. putting in new addresses, adding new people to lists, etc... I'm waiting on a few addresses I requested and hopefully be able to print my newly updated pages by tomorrow. I also want to add a new tab since this year we are hosting Christmas dinner. I have a party planning binder, where I keep a section for holiday parties, but I feel that this should be together with all the other Christmas plans. Do You have a Christmas planner?? What do you include in your planner?

HAPPY CHRISTMAS PLANNING!!

LOVE<3  M

Michelle

BLOGIDAYS WEEK 1

Hello!!! Hope you all had a very blessed and wonderful Thanksgiving!!  I am rested, very full, and extremely BLESSED!! I am thankful for my family, my home, my job, my health, and especially my wonderful hubby!

I am going to attempt to do a daily blog of my holiday prep and ideas. So far we have taken out the Christmas Decor, put up the tree, which I have yet to decorate. I still have some things I plan to do/make/buy. Plus this year, we are planning Christmas dinner at our house. I have so many plans and ideas I want to share, so stay tuned!! 

Seasons Greetings....

Michelle

LIFE IS BUSY...

I have been a very bad blogger, but I have been very busy. With August comes the beginning of school and I have been very busy putting together my classroom.  There have been a lot of changes at work and it's been an adjustment. I want to show some pics of my classroom, but I'm still not done.. So until then, I'm going to tell you about my new business venture. In April, I began my journey with THIRTY ONE!!! If you don't know what thirty-one it's a company specializing in my most favorite thing in the world- BAGS!! My journey began because I wanted to buy an organizing utility tote, but could not find anyone in my area who sold THIRTY-ONE. So I decided to become a consultant. It's been pretty good so far.. but I admit I'm not the best salesperson, by nature I'm a bit shy and I hate having to bother people, lol! But I decided I would try harder, mainly because I love the product and I have heard of so many women who's lives have been changed by this company. So i'm going to try so hard... If you or anyone would like to purchase any products I will link my page to this site and show you some of the awesome new things for Fall 2013!! Also I've been organizing like crazy and have several areas in my life where I have utilized my Thirty-one products. so that's something I want to show you guys till then.......

Sorry for the absence, have a great day!!

Helloooooooo!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, I'm alive......barely, lol! These past few months have been very busy and very hard, which in the process has led me to neglect my beloved blog. I have been doing lots of projects around the house, sadly my project life/crafting has also taken a back seat. I even missed my 1st bloggerversary, so sad :(
Our house has been bursting with lots of small and large projects, which I've documented and will share very soon...
    Since my last post, I have geared into a small business venture, which I will share soon. We've been doing some projects outside and inside the house, which I mentioned I will share very soon.
  After a very, very hard school year, I was looking forward to summer, working on things I don't have time to do during the school year and really just relax. In early May, my good friend Erika called me.. she was upset and told me that she was diagnosed with Leukemia. We were all in shock and very upset. These past few months have been some of the hardest. I met Erika when she started dating my best friend, Adrian. Very soon we became friends and throughout the years, she has become one of my closest friends and to think that I almost lost her- was heart breaking. I prayed more than I ever prayed in my life for the life of my sweet friend who was needed here on earth by her husband and 2-year old daughter. Erika is doing better, but still has the fight of her life to fight... and she's fighting! If you are reading this- please include Erika and her family in your prayers.
     We just recently finished doing a fundraiser for Erika and it had consumed most of my summer, but I wouldn't have had it any other way, I know they would have done the same for us and so many times they have been there for us. So.. with that I AM BACK!!!  

Stay tuned for some blog posts...
(( )) HUGS,
Michelle

Party Planning Binder and First Birthday Parties

My Sweet baby nephew turned 1 on January 9th, my sister organized a Dr. Seuss themed party that was simply adorable. My sister is super creative and I loved all the stuff she made for the party.  Here's a peek....

I also planned a small party for him in our hometown. Since there is so much I have floating in my head, I put together a party planner to help me stay organized. I got a pretty binder from Target and got to work.

 I put in some planning sheets to help keep all my to-do lists, checklists, and guest list together.

 I also separated the binder into sections, I'm planning to put in ideas I find  in magazines and pinterest

 and slip them into each section. I put in baby shower and bridal shower game ideas I found and put them in the shower section. The categories I have are Showers, children's parties, holidays, weddings/ anniversaries, and adult parties, which is not what you think, lol! ( that section includes reunions, bachelorette parties, birthday parties, etc

I also added a birthday chart at the end, so I could keep track of all the birthdays of all our family and friends. Sorry didn't take picture of it. Here are some pics of the party we planned for him- It's a Julius Paul Frank monkey theme.

How do you plan your events? Would love to get more ideas...

XOXO, Thanks!!
Michelle

Kitchen Orgnization

My kitchen is pretty tiny, but it's by far the most organized of all the rooms in my house. It didn't happen over  night, in fact I've been organizing my pantry since summer. I lived with some things- some I loved, some not so much. I adjusted as I needed  and  it's a work-in -progress. This is what I had to begin with....

Pretty messy, things just thrown into the pantry in no order. The over the door shelf, helped so much, but needed so much organization. I started by clearing out the pantry. Had these liners for so long, I got them at Lowe's. Not very stylish, but they will do for now.  

Here's how it turned out after all the organization.......

Let's start with the over the door organizer- I just went through it and organized it and much as I could by type and size.

The top shelf holds some extra unopened crackers, frosting, and other extras. The purple containers hold bread and chips.

On the next shelf, I added another shelf I picked up at dollar tree. I added three white baskets to hold some extras from Wal-Mart. The top baskets hold some muffin/biscuit mixes as well as seasonings, the other basket holds drink mixes and tea. The bottom basket holds breakfast oatmeal packs as well as cinnamon sticks.  And of course, the cans to the left of the basket.

The bottom shelf holds containers for cereal, snacks, and crackers. Want to get a container for croutons and salt. As well as put the Quaker oats into one of the containers.

I also added a 2-drawer plastic container, I put a basket on top with napkins, paper plates, and plastic utensils.

The first drawer holds all my baking supplies like sprinkles, cookie cutters, cupcake cups,and  birthday candles.

The second drawer holds ziplock bags, saran wrap, and foil.

I was trying to find a place to put all our plastic bags that we have left over from the grocery store... I know, plastic bags...bad, but we use them for trash. So I put up a 3M hook, and a pretty blue bag I don't remember where I got. This is where we will keep all those extra plastic bags.

 I also worked on my kitchen drawers. My entire kitchen only has four drawers- 4!!!!! My bottom drawer holds all the attachments I have for some kitchen appliances and gadgets. It also holds our electric carving knife.

 The next drawer holds stuff like cheese grater, whisk, pizza cutter, and among other things, the all important wine bottle opener!! :)

 The second drawer is my favorite!!! It holds all the stuff I would need for baking, from my spoons, spatulas, measuring spoons, and hand mixer.

The top drawer holds knives and standard eating utensils...

Last, but not least I tackled the cabinet under the sink.This is where I keep all my kitchen cleaning supplies, furniture polish, etc.. We also keep our lantern in there in case of an emergency.

Still have my cabinets and hutch to finish organizing. I have to re-work some stuff and move things around. But I will share as soon as I finish.

Thanks for stopping by..
Michelle