Holiday House Plan

So I'm a little behind in my holiday house plan, yep that's the story of my life! Classes started again, and with class time, homework, football practices and games, and all of the other life happenings, I have fallen behind a week. UGH

This week is time to hustle and make up for it. Where are you on your holiday house plan? Are you caught up? Do you feel behind? I'm not going to stress, I'll just get it all done and be caught back up and ready to go :)



Until next post, Have a very blessed day,

 Shelly

Disney Binder printables

Anyone who knows me knows I am a Disney fanatic! Yes I love anything Mickey, Minnie, or in any way shape for form Disney related. That's one reason I became a travel agent, to help others discover the love of Disney!

I got bored this week. Really bored. So I decided to play around with printables again. Imagine that huh? I've made a whole set of Disney home management printables! Now these I'm really going to use lol I've decided I'll be working on all printables in a Disney theme as well!

I hope you enjoy these and if you have a favorite character or color you would like to see them in, drop me a line! I love creating so there is so much more to come!!

Pick up all the Disney printables here!

 


Until next post, Have a very blessed day,


Shelly

Desk organization done!

So if you'll remember, last week started the Holiday Grand Plan kick off. The first item to tackle was Holiday Central. I am proud to say that I have marked that task off my list. Holiday Central is my desk. This is where I do everything of course, work, play, blog, create. So it just made sense to leave my work area the place where all things happen.

Now with that said, I have come to one conclusion. I am a paper hoarder. Ugh. I found things from last school year sitting in my pile of nonsense. Seriously, why? While working on my desk, I knew I would need to organize a few other things as well. That pile of clothes for one thing. My jewelry. Wow, this was not a one day easy task. It took some planning and some out of the box thinking to get everything where I really wanted it.

This is my dresser/bedside area. I took a bag organizer to organize my books that I'm reading right now. It works perfectly and I also have a space for my iPad. I decided to take all of my jewelry and hang it. I don't have a jewelry box and I'm not sure they even make one that would hold all of this. I discovered a new jewelry company, Paparazzi. Lord have mercy help me! What is this evil??? LOL $5 for great jewelry pieces? It has become a favorite of mine! Want to check it out for yourself? You can visit my papa reps site, the jewelry is fantastic and fun. I love the big chunky metal pieces the best! Papa by Erin is the place to go for the latest fall styles! I think I'm going to need more hooks after I get finished with the new product! :) I just took several hooks and placed one set on each one. Everything I have is easily accessible, well organized and it looks kind of nice to see what I have available instead of having to dig into a box or cabinet for it.

I decided to hang my bag I use for school in a place where it is easily accessible from my desk or my bed. This way I can grab the book I need and lay back and relax while studying :) The jar on the shelf is my own version of my Disney Fund keeper. All of my extra change goes in this jar as a way to save our next Disney trip!

And here is the desk area. Simple, clean and very functional. This works for me and I have found that I am much more productive now that I have cleared the clutter and have space to actually work!

Did you check out the Holiday Grand Plan? Are you joining me on this journey? Show me your Holiday Central! I would love to see your organization!

This week is all about the Living room and questions for the Holiday Grand Plan. One area that really needs my attention. I'll be working in this room all week and as it is not too bad, I guess I'll do before/after pix ;)

Holiday and House plan is all about the Calendar and Creativity. This is a great one for me as one of the items to check off is to assess our craft materials. This year will be no different as we are going to make homemade ornaments and decorations for others. Braedan is really excited to get started on this so I'll be making a quick inventory of what we have and decide what we will need for our projects!

Let me know how you are doing with your organization and if you are following along with any of these plans!



Until next post, Have a very blessed day,

Shelly

Organized for the Holidays?

Have you looked at the date? 8/31/15. Do you know how few weeks are left before the holidays are upon us?

I used to stress a LOT when thinking of this. There is always so much to do. I normally host both Thanksgiving and Christmas for my family. And since we have moved away from all of our extended family, yep, the task is on me every holiday now.

Shopping, budgets, meals, gifts, decorations...ahhhhhh stop the madness! It can be very overwhelming to say the least. Most people just go along their way, while hating the holidays more and more and they can't wait until it's all over. That's not how I want my holidays to be! I love Thanksgiving and Christmas the most. And since becoming a grandmother, Christmas has taken on a whole new meaning. I want to relish each and every moment slowly.

And now that we have the boys living with us, I want to relish those moments even more. I want to plan fun activities and adventures for the boys. I want them to be able to look back and say I always loved Christmas with my Mammaw!

There are so many traditions to pass on.

One of my favorite traditions is what I like to call our Christmas Baking Palooza! It's happened every year with Braedan and now Cameron gets to join in the fun. Every year I get a list of all of the yummy treats I want to make for the season. Cookies, cakes, fudge all kinds of yummy bits! Then we choose one day and we make everything! We make several batches also so we can give these yummy goodies to friends and family. It's gone over quite well with the adult children in my life, and Braedan is having a great time handing out treats to his other grandparents as well!

I'll be starting my organizing/cleaning/list making for Christmas this week. Yes I know it's only August. Do you remember me telling you I'm a list person? Well along with that goes I'm a planning person. I don't want to wait until the last minute to plan anything. Yes I love spontaneity, but when it comes to something as huge as the holidays, I want most things planned on paper where I can see what I have going on, when it's going on, what's my cost for what's going on. I want all the little details. The little details can make or break an event or gathering.

Of course you know what's coming next don't you? Binders!!!! You know me so well :) I have found a couple of programs online that I have been following for a few years now. They give me the ability to have a stress free holiday and love every minute of the time I get to spend. They are both put out by Organized Christmas. You just need to decide which plan you really want to do and go for it. Both plans began yesterday 8/30/15, see I'm not the only one thinking ahead!!

The first one, The Holiday Grand Plan can be found here. It's really in depth and takes cleaning and organizing to a crazy level :) This is the one that I have done for years. But this year, I found something that I think will work even better from the folks at Organized Christmas.

The House and Holidays Plan. Same type of info and tasks, but seriously, why clean the attic for Christmas when no one is going to be in the attic? Or the garage or this or that. This plan is a simpler version of the Holiday Grand Plan, with all of the same great information.

I will be working on my Christmas Central location, also known as my desk in my bedroom office. Yes it needs a ton of help. Way too much is disorganized there, I have no idea what half of those papers are and more than likely, they can be shredded and thrown out! Since I use this space every day for my jobs, it can get quite messy quite quickly. This is my mail center, my I'll look at this later center, my homework center for me, my everything really. And it's stressful when there is no organization. I know I put a piece of mail somewhere on this desk and now cannot find it, well it's probably under that 2 ton stash of mail/magazines/etc that you call your look at later pile. Seriously, this has to go! Of course, since this area is in my bedroom, this means that while getting this organized, I'll have to get other areas organized at the same time so it all flows really well.

Both plans have a ton of printables for you and I promise, you will find that following either one, will make your holidays more enjoyable and you will see a huge difference in your joy level! Come join me in this fun adventure and let me know where you are at and how you are doing in it!

I'll be sure to post some pictures of the outcome, there is no way I'm posting pictures of the before ;) Add your pictures as well, let's support each other in our goal of an organized, blessed, wonderful, joyful holiday season!


Until next post, Have a very blessed day,

 Shelly

Serious topic this morning. Your health.

 I know, I know, no one likes to talk about their health! It's boring, most of us already know we could be doing so much better where our diet is concerned. But it's a topic that needs to be talked about, it needs to be shouted from rooftops and made a daily conversation at the dinner table or when sharing your day with your significant other or bestie!

One health topic that is a huge one for us is Diabetes. The mere mention of the word sends my mind reeling. The diet, the sugar testing, the medications, all the complications that can arise. It's a very scary disease. And anyone who has this in their family needs to be concerned not only for the family members who suffer from it, but also for themselves. 

It's an ugly word for sure. My husband was diagnosed with Diabetes 2 years ago, and in my opinion probably should have been diagnosed a long time before that.

I have to watch my diet very well now also. Both of my parents and my brother have been diagnosed with Diabetes. I have always been hypoglycemic so I am at more than a good risk to be diagnosed with this condition.

I check my sugar 4 times a day, watch my carb and calorie intake, I've never eaten so well in my life! I try, TRY being the key word here, to get some kind of exercise daily (as if chasing a toddler around wasn't enough!) I take my medications like I'm supposed to but let's face it, this is so time consuming.

I've found a few websites that help me tremendously with all these tasks. My favorite one by far is Go Meals. This lets you track sugar, carbs, calories and activities for the day. Then you can print out weekly reports that you can take to your doctor. By far one of the best resources available.

I know a lot of people think Diabetes is a death sentence. It's not and can be controlled. And honestly, if you cook right, you don't miss a thing! Yes you can still have that ice cream or piece of birthday cake, just use moderation! When my husband was first diagnosed, I thought wow, how do I cook meals for him now. So I went searching on the internet for the best resources for recipes, funny thing is, it's not necessarily what you cook, but how you cook it and how much you portion it! I found some wonderful cookbooks on Amazon.com that I highly recommend!

I am absolutely in love with this one! A full year of recipes without ever repeating a meal!

Healthy Calendar Diabetic Cook Book. 

Another really great one is

You Don't Have to be Diabetic to Love This Cookbook: 250 Amazing Dishes for People With Diabetes and Their Families and Friends

I have so many little booklets also that I can track my sugar on. All boring and ugly lol I have to make sure I add checking my sugar on my daily planning sheet or yep, you guessed it, I just space it and don't do it. So I made myself a pretty little printable to go along with my daily planner that gives me all the info I need and then I can plug my numbers into the website of my choice or take directly to my next dr.s appointment with me. You can download it here in my health printables folder.  I'll be working on my health binder printables soon also!

I hope you take your health as serious as I now take mine, we have to take care of ourselves before we can take care of our loved one. Each one of us has someone who depends on us, don't let them down!


Until next post, Have a very blessed day,

 Shelly

Boys room

So when the boys came to us, our extra bedroom was my office. It had first been my office/Braedan's room, but since he never slept in the bed we bought for him, I sold it! Shame on me!!!

Since coming to us, we have turned that room back into their bedroom, however some of my office remnants remain. Well that is about to change. I discovered Ikea. How come no one ever told me about this place before??? Holy Jalapeno (yes I watch entirely too much Disney Jr)!!! I was in heaven walking through that place. Oh so many items I wanted!

Well it's high time the boys get a little boys room all their own. I have painstakingly gone through the Ikea website and picked out pieces that are much needed for organization. Bunk beds are the way to go. Since Cameron is almost 2 years old, he is ready for a big boy bed, just have to make sure to get a bed rail and he gets the bottom bunk. Lots of cubbies and trays and fun containers for all the treasures lil boys hold so dear.

I also found beautiful bed linens, lamps and other items on Amazon.com that I will be ordering. All in all just a little over $1500 will be spent (at least on my paper) to make this room a wonderful little boy hang out that will be well lit, beautifully organized and fun for play/homework and sleep.

I'll be taking some before and after photos, be prepared for a shock! I know I'm in shock just looking at the list and thinking of the beautiful possibilities!

All of my planned purchases can be found on my Pinterest board :)


Follow Shelly's board Boys room on Pinterest.

I'll update as the room progresses, big changes are a coming!!! I cannot wait to get started on this room for the boys. Of course I may change my mind as to the theme of the room, but the furniture is a sure thing!

Of course nothing I do can be done without checklists :) Check out my new printables for room renovation here!

Have you totally remade a room that you are proud to show off? Share your story in the comments below!  



Until next post, Have a very blessed day, Shelly

College life

We are sending our youngest son off to college! He will be going to a local community college, but still, college none the less. I too am in college classes. With all the websites, classes, instructors and homework, it's very easy to become disorganized really quick!

I have to admit, I'm OCD when it comes to keeping class information organized. I'm one to pour through the syllabus and write down assignment dates and what we are going over in my calendar so I don't forget anything. I tend to never look at the syllabus again actually once I have everything in my calendar.

But why keep the information in so many different places? If I had a place where I could keep all information about school together, wouldn't that just make more sense? Of course it would, but you know, I have to go through trial and error first before I finally get it all together. Then my mind quickly ran to binders! My mind said to me, "you have a binder for everything else, why don't you have one for your classes?" "Hmmmm, how right you are right self!"

So I sat down and thought about what I needed for my college binder. I know what information I want to keep close at hand and decided I would only put that information in my minder, no need to add things, it will just clutter it up. This binder set is simple, yet very functional. I made one for my son and one for myself, and will be adding more colors also as I like to change things up a bit :)

This is specifically directed at college students, I know here, our school system gives each student a planner/calendar and it's a wonderful bound book. No need to re-invent the wheel ya know?

In my binder package I have a cover page of course, every binder has to have a pretty or nice looking cover right?

Then I made printables for semester info, student info, class info and a perpetual calendar. I have 2 colors as of right now, khaki and tiffany blue. Working on getting others completed and will post links to those as soon as I get them up!  I love the look and feel of these printables, and can't wait to use them during this semester. Who knows what I will come up as the semester goes along that can be added.

Do you have an idea for a printable that should be in this package? Let me know, I'd love to add anything that will be useful!

You can download the khaki binder here. 
And the tiffany blue binder here.


I'll be making more printables soon to share, remember, if you have any to add, leave me a comment. Want something you don't see here? Leave me a comment! 

I hope you enjoy these and get a ton of use from them!

Until next post, Have a very blessed day,

 Shelly