Filofax: Week 7

I have been a very disorganized person practically ever since I moved out of my mothers house. 

Up until my children were around 8 years of age, I have been, shall we say, 'messy'.

I don't want to be. I've never liked it. Always wanted to change that about me. Alas, I have never had the dicipline to follow thru. I have begun many times to 'clean up my act', only to give up before it becomes a new habit. 

I have kept organizers in the past, even made some myself. However, I've only used them for a couple of months at a time tops. Towards the end of last year I started to look for a new organizer. Then, when on YouTube, I searched 'organizers' and up came lots, and lots of Filofax videos. Before this, I had never heard of Filofaxes, didn't know they existed. There is such a huge community for Filofax lovers out there, I decided to see what the fuss was about. 

I purchased this Vintage Pink Personal Malden from a wonderful lady in the UK. It took almost a month from the first contact with her to getting it on my doorstep. So worth the wait. The funny thing is that two days after paying for this Vintage Pink, I saw a black one on eBay for sale for only $45. I had to buy that one too. It arrived in less than a week. I used it for about 2 weeks before this pink one arrived. Now, I am in the process of buying the A5 in Vintage Pink also. 

With this new found love, I have decided to start a new series here, where (hopefully) every weekend, I will post a picture of how my week went. With this, I hope to be more consistent with publishing more often, and making myself be more organized with my life. Giving me a bigger reason to keep up with my Filofax. 

This week:

I had several things to do on Monday, however, I didn't have enough time to finish them. 

On Tuesday, I got a call from my boss, telling me I got the job I had applied for. So, I got promoted.

Wednesday was the first day of my new resposobilities within this company, and my feet were aching! I was in so much pain I decided to not do anything else that day. This was also the day I received this lovely Filofax in the post. A happy surprise after a long day.

Thursday I felt pretty good in the morning, finished cleaning my room and the bathroom. All before 6AM. I was on a roll! Both my brother and sister came for a visit and played Loteria (a Mexican Bingo).

Friday was the livingroom's turn and well, let's just say TGIwasF!

I was so tired, I decided to wake up really late on the weekends.

Though it was a difficult week for me, I've also have to say, it has been a very productive week. That makes me happy.

I will be posting a video of my Filofax setup in a few days so come back to check it out if you wish.

2/21/2014 Edited: Click here to watch my Filofax Setup Video.

Thanks for stopping by, 

Broken camera and no lights?!

I have recently found that my camera is broken, so I have no pictures taken by me for now. That made me really sad.

I was reading a post from Aspiring Homemaker where she talks about how she and her family were without electricity for three days. Their inability to use this convenience made them 'think outside the box'. She, however, made it seem ideal, a sort of romanticism to it.
 

 

(image source)

I decided that the girls and I try going without electricity for three days to see how we would deal with it. It was hard interesting to say the least! We kept trying to flip that switch every time we went into a room. Nightfall was pitch black and had oil lamps all over the apartment. Cooking became an even bigger chore... I dislike cooking as it is, so I told my boyfriend to barbeque these three days. I am thankful, however, that my water heater runs on gas and not electricity otherwise we'd be taking really cold showers!

I was very surprised at how hard it was not to use my stove, or take showers during the night. It was difficult having to go to bed very early otherwise risk not having enough daylight to get things done. Not being able to use the computer was especially hard for me!

Now, I know the true difficulties of not having electricity. When I was a younger mother, I had my electricity turned off due to the lack of funds. I worked, don't get me wrong, but all of my money was going to either the rent or the babysitter. We went six weeks without electricity. It was very  difficult the first two weeks to say the least, but after that... it became quite normal. I cooked on a rocket stove I made, we used oil lamps and candles, and for refrigeration I bought an old car battery. That's all we really needed. This is why I was surprised at the difficulty this time around, and this time I chose  to do it.

Last time we didn't need  television, or a microwave (I went about three years without one, but my boyfriend brought  one home one day). We had a corded house phone -remember those? I still do, and doing laundry by hand was hard yet satisfying.

Best of all, I was happy, very  happy! Once I got used to it, I didn't feel the need to rush and pay my bill, which meant less stress, with less stress, I wasn't as annoyed by my daughters, with that I had more patience. I remember being able to pay my bill a week earlier, but decided to treat the girls to a new dress instead. They were happy as could be, and seeing my children happy made me happy.

I learned a lot that year. I also learned a lot about us this time we chose  to do it -I didn't like that we struggled so much. We will be doing this again once it gets warm again. Get back to that feeling of being happy, less stress, and having more simplicity in our lives-because it did make things much more simpler. 

Bless you all, 

New Homekeeping Notebook Printables

I have been busy creating these lovely printables for my Etsy store. 

The colors remind me of cotton candy.

Pages available are:

1. Daily Schedule
2. Basic Medical Information
3. Child's School Information
4. Contact (address) Information
5. Babysitter Information
6. Doctor's Appointment Records
7. Child's Favorite Information
8. Monthly Budget (3 pages long)
9. Pet Medical Information
10. Special Days (2 pages long)

Currently these are only available individually. More to be added soon. Once all are added I will be making these into a huge bundle.

I hope you like them.

Thank you for stopping by.

My Decision to Homeschool

 (picture credit)

For the past 2 years at least, I have been thinking about homeschooling my daughters. I have been researching hi and low for a good way to do so.

Last school year, my eldest was having some difficulty with her school work. According to my brother she has some kind of anxiety thing going. The problem was she was not turning in her work on time, some, not at all. When I asked her why, all I got was "I don't know". That was frustrating. Not only as a confused mother, but I knew she was doing her work, I sat up with her and checked it for her. 

In the end, when summer vacation started, I gave her a few placement tests. For reading, she scored in the 11th grade, and in Math she scored great in Pre-Algebra, she might be ready for Algebra. Along with her anxiety problem, I think she was bored with her classes, always leaving her assignments for the last minute. Then, at the deadline, she freaked out at how much she had to do. 

This is what made me finally make up my mind. 

I will homeschool my daughters from now on.

Currently, I am saving up to buy a few supplies like, a HUGE dry-erase board, which I will be making, the instructors manuals, and the first 3 books needed for each of the girls. I am also in the process of finding a good certified teacher that will be helping me with the assessments. That way, my girls will not have to take the standardized tests at the end of the year.

Legalities, don't you just love them?

Wish us luck...

No More Missed Packages... Hopefully

There have been way too many times where I have missed my mail because I am either in my studio or otherwise engaged when I am home.

I have made something so simple with Photoshop Elements (any editing software would do fine) that anyone can do. 

I used The GraphicFairy's Amazing Faux Bois frame.

I added the "Please Knock Loudly" because I have noticed mail carriers simply do not knock loud enough for me to hear, either that or they stay for a mere two seconds waiting and then they leave, not giving me enough time to get to the door and answer.

I printed it on a 8x5.5" cardstock. I then laminated it with clear packing tape since I do not have a laminating machine (I improvised), and taped it to my door.

Here's to hoping I no longer miss my packages when I am home.

  

(pic source)

well, my dreams of moving into my first farm have not taken fruit. (get it?) -okay, so it was way funnier in my head. 

but i will not let that get me down. 

me not getting the farm i was looking at is not what i need.

 i guess life has a way of letting you know of what is right or wrong for you even if you don't understand it at the time. 

what i am sure of though is that there is something better out there that is better suited for me and is just waiting for me to take it.

all i can do now, is just wait for the right opportunity and in the meantime be happy of what i DO have and be thankful.

what i am thankful for:

my children

my 'home'

my friends

my brother

my studio

living in a country that allows me to have the freedom to be happy

the ability to be home for my children when they come home from school

being able to have one more day

and so many more... 

what are you thankful for?