0
4
Mar

The Simple Woman’s Daybook ~ Prioritizing Life

Ok, I think I need to start taking priority in my life and getting organized.  Therefore I have decided to start using my blog to help me attain my goals, do what I enjoy, and focus on what is important to me.

Right now I have Three Things in my life that I fell I must prioritize in my life right now.

1) My Family

2) Paying off our Debt

3) Me

In order to successfully do this, I plan on creating one blog post each day of the week that helps me to focus on these items.  So here is my blog plan:

1) Sunday – Menu Planning  – This links to Paying Off Debt – and will be linked up to Menu Planning Monday, where I originally got the idea to do this activity.  By posting my menus on-line I am making myself more accountable to me.

2)  Monday – Project Simplify – If you follow me on Facebook I already alluded to this wonderful project.  It centres back to both Family and Finances.

3) Tuesday – Well its important to me – These posts will bring me back to #3, me they may include scrapbooking, reading, or other items in my life that are important to me.

4) The Simple Woman’s Day Book – This post will be moving to Wednesdays.  It helps me to centre upon all of the above items, and really think about what is important. 

5) Its Baking Day – this one centres back to #1 and #3, I will try to bake at least one item each week and this post will be the results of that adventure.

6) Friday – No Waste Friday – I got this idea from Simply Being Mum.  Basically every Friday I will photograph the refridgerator food, pantry food and Freezer food I had to throw out.  I hate waste and I am hoping like her, this will force me to reduce the amount of food waste in our house through teh sheer embarassment.  This will centre back to the Finances.

7) Saturday – Treasure the Weekend – This will be a scrapbooking, memory post, of the wonderful memories and activities our family had each weekend.  I hope to post pictures at a minimum. – This centres back to Family and to ME.

I hope you will join me and support me through my journey.  And without further ado..

The Simple Woman’s Daybook

I have seen this on a few blogs, and I have decided to try to do this on a weekly basis.. It is originally from The Simple Woman’s DayBook

FOR TODAY

Outside my window…  I cannot currently see outside my window right now.  But I know it is a sunny day today.

I am thinking…  How did life get so out of hand??  Why does it appear I am trapped in the same viscious cycle over and over??

I am thankful for… The fact it is Friday.  I finally got in to see a counsellor (albeit, will only be for 6 sessions)

From the kitchen…  Tonite we are having perogies and hotdogs, and the funny thing is I am quite excited!!

I am wearing… Blue jeans and a brown long sleeve t-shirt I bought from Reitman’s around Christmas time.

I am creating… My menu plan for next week, and grocery list.

I am going…  to fix things, somehow.

I am reading… Gail Vaz-Oxlade.

I am hoping… No matter how bad I do in life, my boys will still be proud of me.

I am hearing…  a door open and close.

Around the house…  Is a lot cleaner than last week.  Implementing the Total Transformation Program in our household has resulted in some notable changes.

One of my favorite things…  Is reading my google reader articles and drawing strength from the moms online who are going through similar trials in life.

A few plans for the rest of the week:  I think the post I made prior to this entry explains my goals.

Here is picture for thought I am sharing…  It is actually one of my most recent scrapbook pages of my wonderful God Daughter.. It is sad I haven’t taken many pictures or scrapped new layouts of my boys in a long time!

0
2
Mar

Lessons Learned

So today has been an educational day for me.

First I realized that the only person who needs to cheer for me is me!  What do I mean you might ask??

Well, today I was driving back to the office after working in Richmond, and had to move across three lanes of traffic.  If any of you know me this is quite the feat for me.  Not because I cannot do it, but because I am an insanely nervous driver.  Well, today I did it.  With a maximum of 2 car lengths between cars, I moved across 3 lanes of busy traffic!  I was so proud, as I was driving I was thinking who should I call to tell them about it.. Walking through the conversation in my head “You would be so proud of me…. ”  But when I took the time to slow down the thoughts in my head and consider those simple words, I realized that I probably don’t know anyone who would be “proud” of me, but ME.  Yes they would politely comment that I did a wonderful job, and probably say something like “I knew you could do it”, but would they truly feel proud of me?  DOUBTFUL.  Unless you are a person who has lived with extensive anxieties, or understand how crippling they can be, would you truly and honestly be able to say you were proud?  It was then that I realized, it didn’t matter to me if they were proud… I was proud of myself and that is truly all that matters.

The second lesson I learned is that even when you are angry, unless someone else is angry about the same item, there is no point in venting because you just get more frustrated in the end.  I am not going to expand on this one, as it was because of a misunderstood situation at work, that I since learned was not what I thought at all.  But it was an important lesson for me to learn.  What I have discovered is that only I interpret items the same way. And it takes a lot of effort and frustration to convince someone of my position when I am frustrated.   I think it is time for me to find a new method to “vent” my concerns.  Now the problem is where and what to do.

1
27
Feb

This week for Dinner ~ Menu Planning Monday

So I am terrible for sticking to a menu plan, so hopefully now that I am posting my menu plans, it will drive me to stick to them.

Sunday – Baked Salmon, Rice (Plain), and Peas.

Monday – Pizza (Stocked up when these were on sale!)

Tuesday – Salmon Fish Casserole (gotta use up that leftover salmon), so either this or this or a combination of the two.

Wednesday – Spaghetti

Thursday – Beef Stir-fry

Friday – Leftovers or Perogies and Hotdogs

Saturday - Shepherd’s Pie.

I hope everyone has a great week!

 

This idea is being propogated and obtained from Menu Planning Monday

0
25
Feb

The Simple Woman’s DayBook

I have seen this on a few blogs, and I have decided to try to do this on a weekly basis.. It is originally from The Simple Woman’s DayBook

_______________________________________________________________

FOR TODAY

Outside my window…  It is pitch black right now and there is nothing much to see.
I am thinking…  I need to get my life under control and organized before I completely go insane!
I am thankful for… My three boys and the hugs and kisses they bring me each day no matter how bad I feel.
From the kitchen…  I took the night off and forced my family to eat leftovers tonite.
I am wearing… My wonderful red flannel jammies my hubby bought me to bed tonite.
I am creating… My first self centred post.
I am going… To go to bed as soon as I am finished.
I am reading… Have a New You in Just 5 Days.
I am hoping… I will overcome and make it past my current life hurdles.
I am hearing…  Brian playing his xbox game, which makes me giggle because the voices and people are so fake.
Around the house…  Is a mess, I need to motivate myself to clean and get it into a more acceptable state.
One of my favorite things…  Right now, it is my husband.
A few plans for the rest of the week:  Groceries, Close some open work issues, clean the bathrooms, if the weather is nice starting to go for walks with one or more of my boys in the evenings.

Here is picture for thought I am sharing…  I could not find a picture that matches my current mood, but i did find a title for one.

RELEASE ME FROM MYSELF

0
8
Jan

Baked with Love

I have the most adorable children!  When Timmy was 6 months old we had the most wonderful photo shoot with Pam Dykstra Photography!  She set up a little make shift kitchen for Timmy.  Man did he have fun playing with the bowl and the veggies.  He looked so awesome against the black background as well.   Pam had the chef’s hat custom made just for this occasion.  And I know we are 18 months after the fact, but sometimes when you come across the perfect kit, you just scrap.

Well, this week Twin Mom Scraps came out with just that kit!!

This wonderful kit is a perfect match to my photos.  The dark charcoal offsets the beautiful black background and the bright orange, red and greens compliment the vegetables.  Here are my wonderful layouts!

Old photos, but at least they are now captures in a manner I am proud to display!

0
24
Nov

Christmas Kits are Out!

Christmas kits are out in the stores I have gotten to play with two of the best of them!!

First off I want to show off the newest release from RKDesigns:

This gorgeous kit is definitely living proof of the gorgeous and realistic kits that Rebecca can design.  Here are my creations!

But this is not the only kit I got to play with!!  TwinMom Scraps also came out with a gorgeous Christmas kit this week.

This kit was the perfect kit to design our Christmas Card with… And well I couldn’t resist making a layout.

But to make it even nicer.. Rebecca of Twin Mom Scraps has a sale on right now!  So if you get a chance check it out!

I am kicking off my Black Friday Sale a little early!!! All of my shops will be on sale 50% off through 11.30.10! (Some exclusions apply)
**My November Grab bag is still available for a few more days.
And I am releasing 2 new Grab Bags early too!!! Images below are linked! Also, you can still get my Thankful Kit FREE with any $4 purchase during the sale too!

Also check out my BOGO Offers and Retiring Products, as they would be posted long!

0
5
Nov

DSD Sales and a New Designer

Wow, life has changed a lot for me since I last posted!!  I am now site Manager over at DID, and I see big things in our future!  But first I must let you know that I have joined a new creative team!!  Twin Mom Scraps. Rebecca (Yep that is right I have yet another designer named Rebecca) designs the most wonderful kits.  They have all the staple elements that I love and wonderful papers to boot!!  For the beginning of November I got to work with her newest kit:

I picked this kit as my first selection because of the wonderful apple!!  Yep, I just had to scrap my apple picking adventure and I saw opportunity and was inspired!  Here is my creation!

But wait don’t go now because now I am going to tell you about the DSD sales!! Read the rest of this entry »

1
22
Oct

New Kits from RK Designs

Man this month has been an insanely busy month for me!!  Being the Creative Team Manager at Designs in Digital has been fun, I WON THE LAYOUT ARTIST CHALLENGE at Digital Scrapbooking Studio so I am on a new Creative Team!! I continue to be creative team manager for the designing duo of Sugar Moon Scraps and Missys Bits.  I have joined a new awesome designer Twin Mom Scraps who I cannot wait to introduce you to.. AND I am now creative team manager for one of my most favorite designs RK DESIGNS.  Busy life in the digi scrapping world I tell ya!

For this brief post I want to show off two quietly released kits by Rebecca of RK Designs.

The first she actually released last month and said NOTHING!!  It is a beautiful Autumn kit:

As usual this kit has BEAUTIFUL attention to detail and a sweet softness that is quite addicting.. This is the layout I created when I got to play with it!

There are some great memories on this page.. This was 3 years back when Jeremy was in preschool.  Man has our life changed.  If you get a chance ensure you check out the add-on that Rebecca quietly released associated with this kit.

The next kit she quietly released is another fun fall kit:

I love this kit it is so cute… If you want to see more with it check out my siggie at Designs in Digital.. I used this kit to create it!  Here is my layout:

This fall photo is so perfect of Timmy, I felt this was a great way to preserve it!

0
3
Oct

Designs in Digital Challenges!!

Come join the fun at DID!!  Every Layout you compete earns you points.. Chose to use our product or your own, either way you get points.. Every point earns 1 cent off in our store!! Read the rest of this entry »

0
19
Sep

Round 3… Yep You missed my Round 2 Layouts.

Ok, so I have made it to round 3 of both my Layout Competitions.. And to tell you the truth, I am quite surprised.. I have actually found this pretty stressful, but at least I am learning and growing and I am quite happy with how far I have come since my last competition I had the courage to enter into in January.

Before I show you this week’s entries, I had to show a layout I most recently created.. And it is a repetitive theme that I have done before.  It seems I can never get a good picture with my three boys together.. Even my photographer has to photoshop the photos in an attempt to create a photo with three, happy front facing little boys.  Recently Timmy and Joseph started playing in some bins in the living room, so with all the giggles and smiles, Brian asked me to try yet again… Minute the camera came out.. Well check out the layout and you shall see..

As you can see, no such luck!!  Yet again I have failed at this next to impossible task.  Hopefully next time, I will succeed!  Well, if you want to see my layouts for this weeks challenge select more.. Read the rest of this entry »