Filofax Friday

Wow, this is a blurry Picture!  Sorry about that!

My filofax all filled in this week.  I LOVED having the little envelope.  I have a private "To Do" list in there.  My checklist stamp also was pretty handy.

Since it's St. Patrick's Day this week, I went with green striped washi.

And marked the day with a craft paper sticker from Target.  I also used my tooth sticker that came in a RAK I received.

It's kind of a crazy week with the kids being out of school for a good portion of it.  They have some half days thrown in there, too.

 I made the four-leaf clover with some heart stickers.  I wish I would have had 4 of the same kind, but alas, I didn't.  The two tone is sorta cute, eh?

I haven't put all my chores down yet.  I think I'll wait until Monday morning to do that.  I do, however, really like my new cleaning system.  And my house has stayed clean.  My husband has even noticed it! (YAY!)



There's my upcoming week!  Have a wonderful weekend!

Thankful Thursday: In Loving Memory

Yesterday was a rough day.  My friend Amber, from high school passed away.  She fought long and hard against Ovarian Cancer, and it took her Home much too soon.  But, I know that God has a plan.  And we can already see the way that He has used Amber's life to make this world a better place.  Rest in Peace, my beautiful friend!  Until we meet again...

Amber Rumpel 1982-2014

1. I'm thankful for childhood friends.  All the memories in Jr. High and High School that I have of Amber are filled with laughter.  I honestly don't remember her being sad.  She seemed to always be laughing about something.  What a gift!
2.  The legacy of laughter left behind.
3.  A WONDERFUL sense of humor.
4. A life lived to the fullest, even though she was so young.
5. Happy Memories.
6. The nostalgic feelings that looking through old yearbooks brings.

7.  God's provision and hand through all of this.

8.  Trust without borders.  Those words keep playing in my head... Although it's impossible to understand why she's gone, I pray that I can trust God without borders.

9.  I'm thankful that we didn't move.  That I'm still close enough that I can go celebrate Amber's life with our friends.

10. Amber's family.  She has two little boys.  Her family has shown such as example of love and support through this journey.

11.  Her best friend Amanda.  Unconditional love right there.  The other friends that Amber was surrounded by.  She was one of those people that you just couldn't help loving.

12. Photographs. 

Homecoming 1998

13.  Facebook.  I'm so thankful that we all can keep in touch.

14.  That Amber is no longer suffering. She fought hard, but she doesn't hurt anymore.

15.  Funny stories shared between friends.

16.  Peace that passes all understanding.

Regional Competition 1996 (I think)

17. Regional competition.  This was such a fun trip!  Such good memories there!
18.  The weddings of friends.  Amber was in several more weddings. This is definitely a special group of women.

Stephanie Sherard's Wedding.

19,  Friendships that last a lifetime.

20.  Love that transcends time.  These girls are all dear to me.  Although the years have taken us in different directions, although life has thrown us some curve balls, even though some of us are no longer as close as we used to be, Amber will always be a part of us.  

Thank you, God, for sharing Amber with us.  She's free now.

Tip Tuesday (A5 Paper)

I've written quite a bit about my filofax.  I love it.  I use it every day, all day long.  The one thing that is difficult about it is that the inserts are paper size A5.  It's not a huge deal, and I use the Filofax Week on Two Pages inserts for my everyday planning, but there are so many printables out there so you can customize your filofax to fit your specific needs.  I have printed several things, but was getting frustrated by the paper size.  I have a personal paper cutter, but it doesn't do more than two sheets at a time.
On the Philofaxy Facebook page, I asked if anyone knew where in the US to buy A5 paper.  I did get some suggestions, but the best one (in my opinion) was to go to an office supply store, buy a ream of paper, and have them cut it to the A5 size.  It was $5 more for them to cut it for me, but I was able to find the paper weight that I wanted, and now I have 1000 sheets of A5 paper.
My printer does have a setting for A5 paper, so I just popped it in, and printed this cute "Important Date" printable from Organise with Katie on Etsy.

I used my new hole punch from Rakuten to punch my holes.  I love this thing!  It's adjustable, so it'll punch just about any size of paper that I need.

And it's in my Filofax!  Now to fill it in!

I hope this tip helped!  Happy Tuesday!

Make Something Monday (Embroidery & Bandana Bibs)

I spent a good portion of the day on Saturday down at Haven's dance studio, embroidering names on the team's competition bags and jackets.   They turned out so well!  Here's Haven's bag:

And her jacket:

They say "Synergy Dance Company" on the backs, while the bags have it printed on the sides.  I'm LOVING my embroidery machine, and I'm learning so much.  Especially patience.  I never realized how long it would take to pick out a design if you mess it up right towards the end...  I've since learned that I can save myself if I had a different type of interfacing.  I plan on getting some ASAP.

I've also been working on some Bandana bibs to take down to the boutique.  I found some really fun fabric, including this one:

I just love the little mustaches!  The bibs attach at the back with snaps.  They're absolutely adorable!

Have a fabulous Monday!  I plan to!

Filofax Friday

Here's my week last week all filled in.  I did implement a new cleaning schedule this week, which I really like.  It goes by 'job' instead of by 'room.'  For instance, one day, I will clean all the counters in the house. (Kitchens, bathrooms, etc.)  It seems to be going very well.  Both my house and I like it a lot.

I just got a new stamp, and I've been waiting all week to use it.  I bought it from Muji Online.  Here's the link: Check List Stamp
I love it!  And it was really affordable.  Only $3.75

I also bought the Hello Coco stickers from Ebay.  They're SO cute! 

I stamped my checklist on every day.  It really helps me keep track of my to do's when I check them off.

I got both kinds of washi tapes from the JoAnn's clearance section this week.

The little envelope is from the Target Dollar Spot. I don't have a clue what I'm going to put in it yet, but it's darn cute, isn't it?  The owl sticky note is from a RAK I received.  And there's my schedule for the week!  As usual, it'll fill up pretty quickly as the week progresses.  

Have a fabulous weekend!

Thankful Thursday, Week 10

I love this quote:

It's SO true!  And such a good thing to remember...

1. I'm thankful for my new embroidery machine.  I'm having so much fun with it and have so many ideas running through my head that it's kept me up at night!

2. Reimbursement checks.

3. Serenity.  This is an essential oil blend that I just ordered, and it's wonderful! It really helps me relax at night.

4. Homemade coffee creamer.  For the recipe, see this post.

5. Warmer weather

6.  For dr. appointments.

7. Big dreams and decisions to make.  I'm contemplating re-opening my Etsy shop.  I still haven't completely decided whether or not to do it yet, though.

8.  Dance competitions.

9.  Flowers and chocolate from my husband after a hard day.

10.  For my new hop punch for my Filofax.  It's awesome and it makes everything so much easier!  I got it here: Rakuten

11.  My new cleaning schedule.  I found this on Pinterest, and I love it so far!  (And so does my house)  Here's the link for the printable: Pinterest

12.  Glasses adjustments

13.  Sunshine!  FINALLY!

14.  That I don't have to wear my heavy winter coat to set foot outside!

15.  New shoes.  Both my boys got new shoes yesterday and they both think they're Olympic runners now.

16.  Haven's sleepy eyes first thing in the morning.

17.  Quick snacks

18.  The "Force."  I was sitting in the drive-thru at Starbucks yesterday, and Asher is convinced he used the force to make the car in front of us move. :)

19.  Flowers from my Jay-man.

20.  GREAT days at school!  Jay struggles with staying in his seat and keeping his mouth closed.  He had an AMAZING day yesterday!  I'm so proud of him!

Wowzers...

Busy, busy, couple of days.  Not that I mind.  I like to be busy, but these few days have been nuts.  I have managed to fit in a few things in spite of all the craziness.
I have several things to share with you in this post.  Sit back, relax, have a cup of joe.
With some homemade FLAVORED coffee creamer!  (That sounded like a commercial announcer in my head.)
I threw these together yesterday afternoon.  There's two different kinds here: Chocolate Raspberry and Mexican Mocha.  They're actually pretty good.  And they don't have all the processed junk in them that the store bought kinds have.

There's 25 different recipes here: http://blog.greendeals.org/go-green/homemade-flavored-coffee-creamer-recipes/

I can't wait to try them all!  

This is my girl right before she went on stage this weekend.  We were at a dance competition.  Our very first.  It was so much fun!  And Haven had a ball!  And, of course, she looked adorable!

And her trio took TOP FIRST PLACE!!!  Go Synergy!  

She looks like she's bearing her teeth there.  She was really saying "Cheese."

And I got a new toy this weekend.  I new (to me) embroidery machine!  I'm already having so much fun with it!  I made this cute hair bow for Haven yesterday.

And the Asher-man wanted something, so I put his name on his craft apron.

I also did a pillowcase for Jay, and put Haven's name on her dance company jacket.  I was having so much fun that I forgot that I had put dinner in the oven.  I burned it.  Badly.  It was completely inedible...  So, we had to eat out.  Not that the kids minded much, but I'm really tired of fast food after being gone all weekend...  But, hey, it was a productive day.

I'm so excited about my new toy!  Next on the to learn list is appliqué.  It should be fun!  Wish me luck!