Crazy!

Life has been a little crazy, still. The repairs resulting in the downstairs flood are still underway. It's exciting, and really coming together, but it's got me a little thrown off. Not to mention, two babies in diapers at the same time, and two elementary age children leaves not much time for anything else. I'm so motivated to get things better organized though. I keep remembering the quote I read from Jen at IHeart Organizing, about how each minute spent organizing gains you an extra hour in time. I'm all over it! I definitely value time, and am constantly making an effort to use my time more wisely. Since time is money, I also believe it's true that time well balanced coincides with money well budgeted, both of which are very important to me. I've been gathering all kinds of inspiring ideas from books, and from the blogosphere. Tiny little changes I've made here and there are definitely motivating me to keep going, because I can feel my time slowly increasing already! I can't wait to share my projects as they get completed.

I need to catch up with the my "Thankful For" posts, so here goes.

Day 14: I'm thankful for my house. In this economy, it's a blessing to have a house to call home.

Day 15: I'm thankful for my "baby emergency fund." If you follow Dave Ramsey at all, you know what this is. Basically, it's a small savings for the unexpected emergency that may come up, in this game called "life." Well, this year has brought us quite a number, and we haven't gone in debt yet, in order to take care of them.

Day 16: I'm thankful for my Crock Pot. I'm not big on cooking, but it's a necessary evil! Ha! Just kidding. About the "necessary evil" part that is. I have tonight's dinner cooking in my Crock Pot right now. I love how this tool makes this task easier.

My Man

Day 13: Today, I am most thankful for my husband. I can not say enough about how much I love this man. Though imperfect as we all are, I think he comes pretty close to perfect... at least for me. The Lord guided me his way, and I've been a better person for it, from the time I married him nearly 12 years ago. Since I can't figure out how to talk about how awesome he is without writing a novel, I'll just leave it at, I'm thankful for the man of God that I have chosen to be my husband.

Company Christmas party 2011



Thankful in November day 12

Today, I am simply thankful for another day. We are certainly not promised tomorrow, so each day is a blessing. Today happens to be one of those "bleh" days for me, but I'm thankful for it still. Although I have piles of laundry to fold, and a huge pile of dishes to do, and my house is out of sorts due to the repairs being done, all of these things are indicators of all the wonderful blessings I have living in this house.

Girlfriends

Day 11: Today I'm thankful for my girlfriends. I mentioned a bit about a couple in yesterdays post. I love my girlfriends! Once a month coffee talk is a day to look forward to. Been spending time with my younger girlfriends too, taking walks together, and movie time. It's all time well spent. We need our girlfriends. It's so important to nuture these relationships, and practice being loving and not catty, the way us girls can have a tendency toward.

Mermaid Run

Day 10: Today I am thankful for my physical health. I make an effort to not take for granted that I am in great physical shape. I also make a strong effort to take care of this fairly strong body that God has blessed me with. I try to eat right, meaning limit processed food, and consume food in as close to its natural state as possible. I eat organic food when possible, and try to limit the junk food. I don't deprive myself of the occasional treat though! I just make an effort not to be excessive. I also have always enjoyed keeping my body physically fit. Running is something I've recently gotten more into. I've been blessed with a new friend, and a great motivator and inspiration in this renewed love. My friend Judy, along with her family, just moved here a couple of short months ago, and she's become an instant friend. She's an amazing athlete who has done several tri-athlons and marathons. She invited me to run with her one time, and that was the beginning of my renewed love for running. I had been leery of running on my own outside, thus I haven't. It's been great to have a running partner. She's also motivated my friend Peggy to run too. The three of us have enjoyed running together, and have enjoyed being girlfriends. Also, I've gained increased strength, and improved physical health. Today I ran my first 5k, The Mermaid Run in San Francisco, along side my two girlfriends. What an amazing experience it was! It definitely will not be my last. I'm thankful, once again, for my physical health, so that I can continue to enjoy such things.

The view for about 50% of the run. Our beloved Golden Gate Bridge.

 

 

Traditions

Day 9: Today I am thankful for new traditions that I have begun. I started taking my kids out every Thurday after school to get some sweet treat, be it ice cream, or pie, or cupcakes, and the like. This started as an incentive for them to finish their lunch each day, but it has been more of a blessing to me than I expected. I've been enjoying this time with them, and I like a sweet treat every now and then too! Now I need to prepare for my first race since high school. Tomorrow I run a 5k with a couple of my girlfriends. I'm really excited about this! Perhaps another new tradition.

"Thankful For..." catch up

I've been too busy to get to my computer this week, so today, I'm going to post three "thankful for" posts.

Day 6: I'm thankful for moments of inspiration. As of late, I've been reading Jen's blog at "I Heart Organizing." It's been very inspiring to me. This girl gets me! Anyway, I read something in there that she wrote, that really hit me. Goes something like this: "On average, we spend 40 minutes a day trying to find stuff. However, for every minute we spend organizing, we gain 1 hour." I truly believe this. Exactly why I'm striving to get better organized. I want to be able to maximize on my time. Now, I'm the more inspired to take the time to get this place organized, stat! It will be so worth it. I'm getting there!

Day 7: I'm thankful for great organization tools.  Inspired as I have been, I purchased these cool refrigerator decals from the Martha Stewart line at Staples. They are adhesive, but removable, and can actually stick to many surfaces, including on the refrigerator. They provide space to write on, with a dry erase marker. I like to plan out my meals for each week, and shop for my needed groceries once a week. Shopping this way keeps me from accumulating food items I just end up forgeting about, and it keeps my pantry cabinets from getting cluttered. It also helps me stay on budget, which is the best part.

I like to write my dinner meal plan for each day

I like to have my shopping list in plain view.

 

Day 8: I'm, oh so thankful, for the rain! It's raining today nice and good, and I love it. Sure, it poses some inconveniences, but the best part is, it waters my plants for me! I love my garden, but it's a bit of work. When the rain comes, I get a break! And, it does a far better job of watering my plants than I can.

 



Happy Feet

Day 5: Today I am thankful for good running shoes. I was reflecting on this while encouraging my friend, Peggy, as she is training to run her first half marathon. She is very new to running. She's doing awesome at it, by the way. Being new at it, she's been discovering some of the ways running can take a toll on our bodies. Good running shoes make all the difference in terms of performance, and in terms of physical preservation. I love my running shoes. I've been putting miles on them lately, as I've been running more, and preparing to run my first 5k (3.1 miles) this Saturday! They've proven to be good to me. They are Asics GT 2160's. Yay for my happy feet!

Love Sleep!

Day 4: Today, I am most thankful for that extra hour of sleep I got. I've been dragging all of the previous recent mornings, because it was still dark at 7am! Now that we set our clocks back, and I got that extra hour, it seems to have made all the difference for me, at least today. I got up, got myself and the kids ready for worship, and we were early! Yay for the time change. I'm optimistic that my mornings from here on out, will be much better, and more productive.

Thankful in November, Day 3

Today, I am thankful for my new washing machine and dryer. I got these earlier this year, during the summer, after my old dryer died. They are Whirlpool Cabrio machines. They clean so well, and use up less water. They also have a larger capacity than my old machines, which makes so much of a difference when you're doing laundry for a family of 6. They are also great for washing all those cloth diapers that I mentioned in yesterday's post. It's so nice to have new machines, because I have never, until now, had new washing machines. What a treat. Sorry for my lack of photo, but they reside in my garage (for now), and I'm not too happy with the state of my garage. Maybe one day, you'll see a picture of them in my new laundry room (just dreaming a little!).

Thankful in November

So, yesterday, I realized... it's November! I did a "thankful in November" thing last year on facebook, but I thought I would try to do it this year, now on my blog! I've noticed several people doing this, and I've been inspired to do the same. Each day in November, I will post something in which I am thankful for. Since it is already November 2nd, I'm going to do yesterday's and today's thankful post together. Here goes!

Day 1: Be pre-warned that this post may be a little gross for many. As for me, a lifesaver and big relief for sure. I am thankful for my Swedish snot sucker! "What's that?" you may ask. It is a simple little tube attached to a recepticle for receiving snot that I suck out of my baby's nose! Sounds gross, I know, but this little tool is very effective. My baby has been getting over a cold, and has had excess mucus the last few days. This thing works so well! Being able to help my baby breath with ease makes this so worth it!

 

 

 

Day 2: I am thankful for my cloth diapers! I didn't use them for my older two, but have been using them for my two current babies. Love them! I use Little G cloth diapers. "G" for Green. These diapers have a cloth insert with a soft microfleece surface that touches baby's skin, and a back surface made of hemp, that sucks moisture away from baby's skin. They also come with a flushable liner to place on top of the cloth, so that when they poop, clean up is easy! It also makes it less gross to launder them. The covers are so cute and come in various colors and designs. I've been quite happy with them, and happier for saving money due to not having to purchase disposables often. 

 

Bye-bye Halloween!

Well, Halloween is over, and it's time to gear up for the snowball effect of the Holiday season and the end of the year! I had a fun Halloween, and no matter how busy I am, it doesn't seem right unless I pull something together for a costume. Even if it's a simple hat... or not so simple! I decided to be a rice farmer this year! This hat was my grandmothers. I think it came with her when she first arrived from the Phillipines when I was 5. I've always wanted to use it for a costume! Sorry for the funny pose. I look like I'm about to bust out in a Filipino folk dance!