3.29.12

It’s always darkest before the dawn

That’s what I’ve heard on TV or read in a book when a main character is facing some life altering situation. It’s always darkest before the dawn and then something miraculous happens and everything is all gravy. Well, I’ve certainly had enough of the dark times. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any darker, it did. It’s been almost a year since my mom died. April 9^th will be 365 days that heaven admitted my mom as God’s newest Angel and I’ve always thought since her death, that she’s been my Angel. 

Yesterday I was in such a dark place in my heart and in my head. I was missing my mom something awful and it was just becoming unbearable and yesterday morning I hit a “wall”. I felt like she had just died all over again and everything still felt so raw. There’s so much more I could talk about regarding everything that’s happened since Momma died, but to dredge it all up now is to relive it and right now, I’m just too happy to put myself thru that. One day I’ll share it, and believe me, you will see why it’s been such a painful journey. So, my wonderful husband, heartbroken because there’s nothing he can do to fix my pain, suggested that I call my Godmother. She and my mother were friends for 44 years before she passed and I really needed a mother figure to talk to. So I called her and we talked for about 2 hours. She told me funny stories about when she and my mom were in high school together. She reminded me of many things that my mom would say to cheer me up and she told me some hard things that I needed hear to begin the closure process of my grieving. I’ve come to accept what I need to do, I’m just not ready to do it. But the very acceptance of that fact lifted sooooo much weight off my shoulders and that heavy cloud that was suffocating my heart was beginning to lift. I started breathing easier and I actually felt like getting out of bed, washing my hair, and getting pretty! I did something I hadn’t done in almost 2 years…I gave myself a French pedicure! It turned out so pretty! Today, I even did my hair all pretty and I did my makeup! My husband was like “where’s my wife?” Even my 12 year-old son was like “Wow mom you look awesome!” I don’t know what tomorrow is gonna be like, but the way these last couple of days have gone, all I can do is look forward to it!

Sunrise sure is pretty isn’t it?

3.19.12

Sharing the love….

I’ve been loving my Erin Condren life planner so much that I went on the hunt for another giveaway and……

I found one!

Go to http://www.inthiswonderfullife.com/2012/03/erin-condren-giveaway.html to have a chance to win a $25 gift card. Even though I just got my 2012 planner, if I win I’m putting it towards a 2013 planner. I'm hooked!

Good luck!

Moving Day

The Author of this post is Freddy Savage

 When my husband told me we were moving to Charlotte, North Carolina, I was excited. We knew that his new position with his company would send us to one of several cities and we visited them all. Both Carolinas are absolutely beautiful states! Charlotte is the largest city and capitol of North Carolina, and has much to offer its residents. Moving from one large city to another is pretty easy because all of our needs – social, educational, spiritual – are more easily met. We are meeting with a realtor there next week and have already selected three or four areas in which we would like to look at homes. Our children are small and very resilient to change. We approach them with the move as an adventure. They have great attitudes about the change. In an effort to help them feel connected with looked at directtv options in the area to be sure they would be able to continue watching their favorite weekly programs. When they saw them listed, all was good with the move and the world!!

Obsessions can be life changing…..

It’s been about a week and half since my new bestie arrived. Of course, I mean my Erin Condren life planner. I’ve used her every day and it’s been such a pleasure! I even feel much more productive now and efficient with my time and I get so much more done now! I went grocery shopping for the 1^st time with a menu plan and I can’t express how nice it felt to shop with a purpose and not wonder down the aisles hoping for inspiration. My husband and I used to have the same "fight" everyday….”what’s for dinner? I don’t know….what do ya feel like?” every day. Not this week! And every Saturday morning we'll sit as a family and come up with a dinner menu for the week. It’s another nice way for us to get together and clown around. Also since she’s arrived, I use her to jot down blog ideas and I’ve even gained my 1^st follower! Thanx Jonnique!

I use my planner to keep track of everything, from our dinners to when it’s trash day. My hubby even teases me “do you need to check with your girl?” Still silly, gotta love him! I’ve even added a few things to her if you could believe it. Directly on the back of the on*the*go page (it’s a nice and thick page) I put 4 different color sticky tabs to mark my notes and my current week, some lined sticky paper for my quick lists, and a symbol key for my tasks so I remember what I’m “talking” about when I annotate my many lists. I got the personalized notepads, but I’m not wasting those for a Walmart list…..nope! J On the folder I put 2 big paper clips to hold the papers in the folder. I use the circle clips Erin included to hold my labels and cards together. I don’t like the way they bend my planner pages. I also used a pretty green binder clip to hold my notepad in place. I opened up my planner one time and the notepad went flying across the room….no more of that! I also put a couple of bright sticky pads in the plastic pouch for quick notes to leave for my kids or my hubby. They love the new me!

TAB FIX!

I also borrowed a tab fix from another blogger and used Avery 1.5” self-adhesive tabs. Tear them all the way open and they fit perfectly over the month tabs. Just peel off the adhesive strips and stick it to the page. They fit like a charm and you can hardly tell they are there. The adhesive part does cover about half a calendar day, but that’s an easy sacrifice when I’m saving my tabs. That was one of the reasons why I got the planner in the first place! I thought about using packing tape, but I wanted a more permanent solution and the Avery tabs do the trick. A little birdy told me that the 2013 life planners will come with laminated tabs…..yay! I can’t wait to see what other features will be included and I’ll be one of the first in line when she releases them in June.

Here's what it looks like......

my green, blue, yellow, and red tabs, lined sticky pad & symbol key

 I color code all my entries…..

 See how nice the tab fix is? Can hardly tell its there!

One of my paperclips holding in my weekly grocery list in the folder…

Pretty green binder clip holding in my pretty notepad…..

I use the circle pins for the cards and labels and those are the sticky notes I leave for my kids or my hubby….

So that’s how I’ve used my Erin Condren Life Planner. It’s been an investment that is becoming a staple in my life, for my life. Has your new planner helped you make positive changes in your life too? I’d love to hear about it!

Newest Obsession Realized!

Newest obsession is now a reality!

She’s here! My Erin Condren Life Planner finally arrived this afternoon! I didn’t even hear the fedex guy either. My and the kids where walking out the door for me to drop them off at the movies and there she was sitting on the porch waiting for me to claim her! I grabbed the box and ran my errands after I dropped the kids off. I couldn’t wait to get home! At every stop light and stop sign on the way I would look over at the box and think “I bet it’s as pretty as I hope it’ll be”. When I got home I was singing “look what came for me today!” I opened up the box and there was this gorgeous orange wrapping paper….well, here’s some pics so you can see for yourself.

I decided on the pool & mocha candy lace with my favorite pic of my hubby and babies. He took them to Sea World (in 2005) when we lived in San Diego and they took this and another pic I love. It was a half day for the kids and I had to work so Daddy worked it out!

I’m only showing 1 notepad here but I got 2 of them. I went to my local Walmart to get the Avery tabs for the tab-fix but they only had the color ones. Boo! I guess I’ll order them from amazon because I refuse to pay $20 bucks for tabs. Nope! Not gonna do it! Maybe the color ones won’t be so bad. The pack does include 5 clear ones as well. Anyway…..

As I was opening the box, all my gasps kept my husband looking at me all strange and finally he said “ok, lemme see this thing” and when I handed it to him, he smiled so big! Then he took out the labels and said “wowww!” and when I showed him the notepads, he dropped his voice a few octaves and said “from the desk of Monnique Arnold”. He’s so silly.

I’ve spent the last several hours putting in my important dates and phone numbers, upcoming appointments and commitments….my daughter talked me into doing a fashion show with her. Me? A fashion show? What are you talking about? Fashion show? What? Are you crazy? Fashion show?

Yeah, fashion show!

So I put that in my planner as well. It just makes me happy to look at it and now I’m so motivated to get completely organized, I’m organizing a mission to get organized! I stumbled upon an awesome blog a bowl full of lemons, and let me tell you, this woman is an organizing genius! Check her out. Part of my commitment to myself to be less stressed is to get more organized and i think she can help. Her name is Toni and her blog is amazing!

So that’s my schpeel on my new planner. New I get to use all my pretty new pens! Newest obsession realized!

Happy planning!

Yay!!!

Yay!!! She finally shipped!!!

My Life Planner is on her way home!!! I’ve been stalking checking Erin’s website all day periodically (ahem) and I raised my arms like my Chargers scored a touchdown and hollered “yes!” when I saw my order status changed from ‘printed’ to ‘shipped’ with a fedex tracking number! (hehehe)

Now….

The next hardest part…..waiting patiently for the next 3 days to see that fedex truck pull up in front of my house. I hope I don’t tackle the poor guy! I hope the drivers make it all the way here (TN) from CA safely with all this crazy weather. Be careful!! You have my new bestie in there….precious cargo! J

Luv peace & hair grease!

Patience....

Patience IS a virtue!

Ugh!! It’s been exactly one week since I ordered my Erin Condren Life Planner. I’ve stalked the website every day since then and I’ve watched my order go from ‘pending’ to ‘invoice to print’ to ‘printed’ (omg!) But my order seems to be stuck on ‘printed’!

Ugh!!

I’m so anxious for my planner that I dreamt I was sitting at my dining room table drinking a steaming cup of French vanilla coffee and writing in my planner! Silly huh? I’ve always been the voice of reason in my house “Patience! Patience!” and now when it’s my turn all that ‘patience’ goes right out the window!  :-D

Ding! Dong!

Oh that’s my email alert…..wonder if it’s about my order….be right back…….

Nope! Dang! Patience right?????????

Fuel for my obsession…

I know I mentioned that I bit the bullet and ordered my Erin Condren Life Planner, but did I mention I’ve become the newest stalker of her website? I’m dying to see my order change from ‘pending’ to ‘printed’ to ‘shipped’!!!!

Omg!

I got my hubby on board with my mission to own one and he just rolls his eyes (happy wife, happy life right?) and says “whatever you want baby”. Lucky me! Well, Erin has a new customer for life!

Like most other ECLP purchasers, I have truly tried to do be a digital planner. It worked for some aspects of my daily planning, but for others it just wasn’t feasible and I’ve tried several different methods, apps, and hardware. I have 2 laptops, an Android tablet and phone and most situations, when I need to jot something down really quick, paper is faster. When you have to go thru all the security measures and waiting for apps to open and such, you could have written down that something several times. Digital is great for me for labeled alarms but long term planning and (call me crazy) color coding is best on paper. I just like writing!

Take care & have a fab weekend!

Oh I did it I did it!!

I ordered my Erin Condren Life Planner!!! I took advantage of her great sale that has going on right now. She’s offering 40% off (while supplies last) when you get a planner and stationery or a planner and gift labels, but you have to buy a combination. I even got my hubby on board with my mission to have one! Even though I am entered in a number of contests to win gift cards and discount codes, I just couldn’t wait any longer. I have to wait until March to find out if I won! Besides, I told hubby if I do win one of the contests, I’ll use it to buy the 2013 planner she’s releasing in June with (wait for it)…… IMPROVED TABS!!! (And then he rolls his eyes…..) When I get my planner, I’m going to have those Avery clear tabs to put over my tabs to make them last. I plan on using the hell outta it!

I chose the Candy Lace design in pool & mocha with a pic of hubby and our 2 babies on the front (when they were little). Then there will be my name, the year, and one of my catch phrases …. “too blessed to be stressed!” Now I’m gonna be like all the other bloggers waiting for their planners to arrive….stalking the EC website, then stalking the Fedex man. I get happy just thinking about it!!

I will post once it gets here. I haven’t seen any unboxing videos for EC (geeky right?) so if nobody steals my idea, I’ll do an unboxing video and then later I’ll post my post-use impressions. I am in no way being compensated for what I’ve said or will say. I just love the product and I’m happy to tell anyone who will listen!

As Erin would say…..enjoy!

Happy Belated Birthday Mommy!

On April 9, 2011, my mother died from congestive heart failure and upper lip cancer. On February 16, 2012, she would have been 68 years old. This blog entry is dedicated to her.

My mother used to tell me how she hated her name. She thought it was boring. Her full maiden name was Dorothy Lee Ray and I always told her it sounded like an actress’ name. She would laugh and tell me she didn’t start to like it until she discovered Dorothy Dandridge. My mom was just as beautiful as Dorothy Dandridge. My mom had such a youthful appearance that up until she got sick, people always thought we were sisters. Depending on the day, people sometimes thought I was the older sister!

My mom told the best stories too. And the way she told stories, she was so dramatic and everything she said she had a way of bringing to life. She had this infectious laugh that if you heard from another room you couldn’t help but laugh too. She would always say stuff like “you know I just like to make people laugh” and then do this crazy sneeze that sounds like she was screaming “I hate you!” Even though that wasn’t what she was saying, it was funny and she knew it.

My mom touched everyone that had the pleasure of knowing her. She was one of a kind and the world is much sadder place without her here. I miss her more than I ever thought I could miss someone. I always thought my mom would live forever because she never changed. She never seemed to age. When she got sick, I went into denial and just assumed she would get better. When she was put into hospice care, I was still in denial. They predicted she would live for 6 more months. I was lucky enough to have her for 8 months. When she died I was relieved for her. She wasn’t in anymore pain and I knew that she was in heaven, doing her crazy jumping jacks and playing with my sister. But I still wish she were here, with me, my husband, and our kids. We all miss her and love her very much.

Happy Birthday Mommy!

Graduating on Time!

Guest post of the week by Moises Henderson

Who would have thought I would actually graduate on time? If you had known me in high school you would be surprised I even got into a four-year university and here I am on the Dean's list about to graduate with dual degrees. I really buckle down after that first year in college when I was on academic probation, and I'm really proud to say that come the student I've always wanted to be. I got high speed internet service at home to help me keep up with my studies and I've spent a minimum of 10 hours a week in the library outside of classes just making sure I was studying enough. I've never been that great at tests which is why I struggled for so long that now that I actually learned material instead of trying to stumble my way through I'm a much better student than before. Honestly, I just can't wait to get out in the real world and start making a difference with this education I've acquired over the last few years.

I found another giveaway!!!

There isn’t much time left so if you want a chance to win 25 dollar gift certificate to ErinCondren.com and buy your someone special somethin’ special, visit Life According to Crystal and enter. Be sure and follow the rules or your entries don’t count. I’m entering myself so good luck to y’all!!

My continuing obsession....

Did I mention how much I love pens??

OMG!!!

I guess I got it from my Mom because she ALWAYS had a multitude of pens at her disposal. Now I’m the same way! Tonight I took my daughter over to Wally World (Walmart) to get some Twizzlers for a project they have to do in class tomorrow. Since I’m plotting to soon have an Erin Condren Life Planner, I decided I would buy some special pens just for my future planner! Silly? Nah, just being hopeful. Besides, if I don’t win, I have some really cool new pens and pencils. I guess I’ve become quite the PaperMate fan with all the recent purchases J .

1- flair markers, ink joy pens, mechanical pencils & a pencil pouch

I also got a cute pencil pouch so they won’t be all over the place. Then I heard a VistaPrint commercial on the Wally world overhead system. They mentioned all the cool holiday gifts they have in addition to making business cards. Who woulda thought? That got me to thinking about Valentine’s Day and then I bought a box of cards for Cali’s class, and two for my hubby. I hope he likes ‘em!

My Latest Obsession

Erin Condren Life Planners!!!

Candy Lace in Multi design

Since I was a little girl I've loved loved loved loved organizing. I always made lists and took notes and I loved anything to do with an office. I was that kid you could take to any appointment. Adults thought I was well behaved, but I was really just enthralled with all the lingo and the paper manipulation. Back in those days the closest things to computers were calculators and typewriters (typewriters....what are those :-D). Now that I'm all grown up and smack in this digital era, I am still obsessed with organizing. I love planners and I own many of them from basic to really expensive, and I have both paper and electronic planners. As much as I try to go digital I still find myself going back to paper. I can't get the gratification of physically checking a box or crossing an item off a list on something electronic. It just doesn't work. So I've been on the hunt for a new planner and stumbled across these Erin Condren Life Planners. I've watched lots of videos and read countless reviews and have decided......(drum roll) I MUST HAVE ONE!!! I've spent I don't know how long on her website and created my perfect planner. I haven't ordered because right now, I just can't swing $50 bucks on a planner when it could go towards something bigger. So.....I stumbled upon this blog called Live in my Heart and she's giving a away a 50 dollar voucher!!! Check it out here at Live in my Heart.. 

I figure if I'm gonna get one I'll probably have to win it so I entered. Good luck!!

It's February now....

Just two more days til my baby girl's 11th birthday......and 13 days to what would have been my mom's 68th birthday. I miss her so much. It hasn't been a year since she passed and I still want to call her and just shoot the shit and hear her goofy laugh. I can still remember what she sounds like. I have some pictures and a few things of hers. I think about her everyday. When I wake up she is the first thing I think about and the last thing I think about when I go to sleep. Its more like pass out. I haven't slept well since she died and its taking a toll on me. I'm forgetful and sometimes hard to live with. I never used to be like that. I want to visit momma's grave again. The last time I was there was my birthday and her vulture brothers and sisters didn't even put a marker on her grave after they pilfered her estate and stole everything. I hope there's something there when I go back.

I'm taking Cali shopping for her birthday if the weather isn't bad tomorrow. Otherwise we'll go on Superbowl Sunday which falls on her day this year. She's so excited. I hope I can pull myself outta this funk before then or I won't be much fun for her. I really need something to look forward to.

20 days in......

Well its 20 days into the new year. I am so glad 2011 it's said and done. It went down as the most topsy turvy year of my life. My Mother died in April. I was blacksheeped by my family afterward. They even tried to kill me and my husband at the funeral home during the planning meeting. An uncle stabbed my husband while an aunt sliced my arm open. Six of my seven uncles jumped my husband but my baby ain't no punk. Every last one of them knew they'd been in a brawl with my man. They came with canes and left with lumps and limps. Even at the funeral the bastards tried to act like nothing happened. I told them to get the fuck away from us.....right in the church! They locked me out of my mother's house and stole the car she left me. They took everything in the house too. My wedding dress was there and I was saving it for my daughter. Pictures that I'll never get to see again. Toys I can't give to my kids and their kids cause they were stolen from me. I still struggle with all that I went thru last year. I still grieve for my mom. I've only been to her grave once since we buried her. Never ever have I spent a birthday without being with my mom. When my 40th rolled around last year I went to her grave. I spent about an hour looking for her because those assholes never marked her grave! It broke my heart. After all they did to keep me away from what my mother intended her only child to have, they didn't even mark her grave. They'll all burn in hell for what they've done. Now that I think about it, they started paying after they assaulted us. As a matter of fact, that very day the rains and winds came. Memphis got hit with floods and tornados like it hadn't seen in 100 years. Every neighborhood that got hit hard by tornado or flood or both were places that a relative lived. Some places were untouched. Not very many, but I come from a huge family and they are spread out over Memphis. Everywhere they live there was destruction. The rain lasted for days and days. The Mississippi River flooded and they were calling it the 100 year flood. Unbelievable? Look it up. If I didn't live it I wouldn't believe it either. Check my facts. I live about 150 away from Memphis so I watched it all on the news. It hardly rained where I live.

Thanx Mommy.

The rest of 2011 came and went, thank God, and now I wearily tread the days of 2012. I try to stay strong. Some days are harder than others but I manage with my wonderful husband and awesome kids. I know I'm luckier than most and get on my knees and thank my Lord for that.....no doubt. I know he never gives us more than we handle but damn! Sometimes its just too much and we need a little break ya know? The break I'm allowing myself is to just take it one day at a time and I'll be fine. Gotta keep my sanity right? Right?