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!