January Home Projects

Hola!! Like always I have been busy and taking on much more than I should.. lol!! I have been working on projects here and there on weekends and in between laundry, etc, etc... I want to share some of the projects I worked on in the month of January.
       My husband and I are tackling our # 1 nemesis- PAPER!! Mail, files, bills, etc... This is an ongoing process that we are still trying to deal with. One thing we have done to help with the chaos is I got all our owner's manuals from the various places in the house and put them together in a binder.

I love Target binders.. they are so colorful and pretty!! I got some plastic folders with tabs and separated the manuals into categories.. Kitchen, appliances, lawn. electronics, sports/outdoor.

I

It has been working ok.. only it is a bit bulky that I might have to separate into 2 binders. But it serves it's purpose.

Another project happened while I was putting away all my Christmas dishes in the china cabinet in the kitchen. While the hutch was fairly organized..

But the two drawers in the cabinet were a different story. They had become full- on JUNK drawers!!!

I emptied out and cleaned out the drawers. I got rid of all the ugly, old dish towels, folded the rest up nicely and got to work on my second drawer. I had these plastic containers that I had collected during my days as a store cashier. They held the sour strip candy and they were just to sturdy and nice to throw away.. so I cleaned them and saved them.

I also had these small plastic containers, I bought last year to hold the crayons for nephews party. The end result was awesome.. everything fit like a glove and I managed to put back everything in the drawer.. nice and neatly of course. I even had room to put my collection of scentsy bars in the back.

This might not seem like a big project, but any little project that can help you're life feel more in order is worth it. For the past two years or so, my husband and I have been working at organizing our lives.. it's overwhelming sometimes but drawer by drawer, closet by closet, we are finally getting organized. It's a work in progress and keeping it in working, organizational order is another chore in it self.. but I truly love our new organized way of living.. How have you organized your life??

Till later,
Michelle...

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