Thursday, June 30, 2011

Love Letters from God...Proverbs 10:12

PROVERBS 10:12 ~ "Hatred stirreth up strifes; but love covereth all sins."

FLY BabyStep #19

Day 19 - Read the Testimonial.

Check Your Control Journal Every Morning and Evening




Here is another inspirational testimonial that is the first page of my book, Sink Reflections. Your home can be this too. You are taking the BabySteps to get you there.



http://flylady.net/pages/TimeFLYs.asp#thing1

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

WW Week 19 Update!

No change again this week. I'm glad I'm not gaining but frustrated that I seem to have hit a plateau. My goal was to try to get some exercise in this week to try to boost my metabolism but so far that hasn't happened. I guess the week isn't over yet and I could still get some in.

FLY BabyStep #18

Day 18 - Read FLY Lady's 11 Commandments.

Check Your Control Journal Every Morning and Evening




Did you know that we have Eleven Commandments? You may want to print these out or write them in your Control Journal.



http://flylady.net/pages/FLYingLessons_11commandments.asp

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

FLY BabyStep #17

Day 17 - Set a specific bedtime and stick with it.

Check Your Control Journal Every Morning and Evening

Today I want you to think about what time you are going to bed each night. Set a specific bed time and stick to it. You need your rest. Put this on your Before Bed Routine.

Monday, June 27, 2011

FLY BabyStep #16

Day 16 - Read an email from FLY Lady.

Check Your Control Journal Every Morning and Evening

Today I want you to look in your inbox for an email from FLY Lady. It can be a Morning Musing, a testimonial or an essay. Just take a few minutes and read over it. You never know what I am going to discuss. You can also go directly to Big Tent and read the messages.

Sunday, June 26, 2011

FLY BabyStep #15

Day 15 - Make Your Bed.

Check Your Control Journal Every Morning and Evening




You are starting on our third week of FLYing. Each day you are going to your Control Journal and using your sticky notes to remind you along with the reminders that you are getting in our inbox. Our habits are coming along nicely and we are seeing changes in our attitudes and our homes.



On our new week of FLYing you are going to add Making your bed to your morning routine. If you will do this as soon as your feet hit the floor you are less likely to forget it.

Saturday, June 25, 2011

FLY BabyStep #14

Day 14 - Read an essay Kelly wrote.

Check your Morning Routine in your Control Journal

Check your Before Bed Routine in your Control Journal

There is tons of information on our website. I do not want you to get confused. Today I want you to go read an essay that Kelly wrote. Most of us are calendar challenged. Kelly has a way of making it so easy for us to understand.

http://flylady.net/pages/FLYingLessons_UsingCalendar.asp

Weight Watchers Month 4 Update!

AS OF 6/14/11

Monthly Weight Loss: 4lbs
Total Weight Loss: 13lbs
Monthly Measurements: No Change
Total Measurements: 0.5"-2.5"



Friday, June 24, 2011

FLY BabyStep #13

Day 13 - Check your Morning Routine in your Control Journal

Check your Before Bed Routine in your Control Journal

Today I want you to find one of Kelly’s Missions and go and do it. They are fast and easy! This is going to introduce you to how we break our home into zones so that we never have to spring clean again.

http://flylady.net/pages/FlightPlan_Missions.asp

Here is what we are doing so far. We are practicing our Morning Routines, decluttering for 15 minutes a day and doing our Before Bed Routines.

FLY BabyStep #12

Day 12- Delete all the emails from Fly Lady.

Continue with your morning and evening routines!

Keep the sticky notes up to help remind you to look at your Control Journal. Can you believe that you have been FLYing for 12 days? I am so proud of you! BabySteps will get you there.

You have your basic routine started and these are what you do for now. Do not try to do too much too fast; you will just crash and burn. Continue to take BabySteps to build your Control Journals. Do not allow your perfectionism to take over. We are building our routines and our Control Journals one habit at a time.

WW Week 18 Update!

So I'm really late with this weeks update and still have to do the monthly update, it's coming I promise. This week I didn't lose or gain any weight. I guess it's better than gaining right?! Hopefully I can make up for it at my next weigh in.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

FLY BabyStep #11

Day 11 - Today we are going to add another page to our Control Journals.

We are going to call this our Inspirational Page. On this page I want you to spend 15 minutes writing down some of your favorite inspirational phrases. Some of mine are; You can do anything for 15 minutes, Housework done incorrectly still blesses your family and You can’t organize clutter; you can only get rid of it. I know you have others that you love. Use this page as a place to write them down when you see something that touches your heart.

Our Routine So Far...

Morning Routine

- Get up and get dressed to lace up shoes; fixing your hair and face
- Looking at your posted reminders in the kitchen and bathroom
- Going to Big Tent and reading messages
- Recognizing the negative voices and changing them; YOU ARE FLYing NOW!
- Put out your Hot Spots for 2 minutes
- 5 Minute Room Rescue (pick any room in the house) set your timer and go!
- 15 Minutes Decluttering each day. You can’t Organize Clutter!

Before Bed Routine

- Keep your sink shining
- Lay out your clothes for tomorrow
- Put out your Hot Spot (I have to do this twice a day) It makes me smile in the morning!

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

FLY Babystep #10

Day 10 - You can do Anything for 15 minutes.

We've already been using our timers for 2 and 5 minute increments now we will set our timers to 15 minutes tidy up an area but stop when the timer goes off. Do not restart the timer. After your 15 minutes cleaner, you can do a fun activity for 15 minutes.

Our Routine So Far...

Morning Routine

- Get up and get dressed to lace up shoes; fixing your hair and face
- Looking at your posted reminders in the kitchen and bathroom
- Going to Big Tent and reading messages
- Recognizing the negative voices and changing them; YOU ARE FLYing NOW!
- Put out your Hot Spots for 2 minutes
- 5 Minute Room Rescue (pick any room in the house) set your timer and go!

Before Bed Routine

- Keep your sink shining
- Lay out your clothes for tomorrow
- Put out your Hot Spot (I have to do this twice a day) It makes me smile in the morning!

Monday, June 20, 2011

FLY BabyStep #9

Day 9 - Declutter A Few Minutes At A Time.

Today we are going to declutter.

1.When to Declutter: Decide how often you are going to declutter a zone. Do a little each day - use a timer. Stop when the timer goes off, you don't want to burn yourself out. Do a small amount at a time, remember the house did not get dirty overnight and will not get clean overnight. When you set the timer you can only do 2 sessions each day. In a few months your entire house will be clutter free.

2. Decluttering Equipment: You will need garbage bags, boxes, magic markers, and a dust rag. Label the boxes "Give Away", "Throw Away", and "Put Away". Line the "Throw Away" box with a plastic garbage bag.


3.Set your timer: for 1 hour (or 30, 15, or 10 minutes - it does't matter how long). Just do the job as fast as you can and do not pull out more stuff than you can put away in that length of time. This means just one drawer, one closet (or even one shelf in one closet), one magazine rack, or digging under just the furniture in the zone. Not all of them at once!

4. Start at the entrance to the room: Then, work your way around the room clockwise. Do not skip a spot. Whatever happens to be next, just do it.

5.Declutter Away! With boxes at your feet and dust rag in your waistband, start off by cleaning out and getting rid of the things that do not belong in this room. Put garbage in the "Throw Away" box, donations in the "Give Away" box, and stuff that goes somewhere else in the "Put Away" box. Don't worry that you do not have a place for everything right now. By the time you finish you will. That's a promise from FlyLady!

6.What to declutter? Things to ask yourself as you get rid of your clutter:
Do I love this item?
Have I used it in the past year?
Is it really garbage?
Do I have another one that is better?
Should I really keep two?
Does it have sentimental value that causes me to love it?
Or does it give me guilt and make me sad when I see the item?
Cleanse this room of everything that does not make you SMILE.

7.Sing this song: "Please release me, let me go" as sung from the stuff's point of view. It needs to be loved by someone and if you don't love it - GET RID OF IT!

8.Get rid of the garbage! When the "Throw Away" box gets full, pull out the garbage bag, close it, and put it in the trash can, the pickup truck, or wherever you keep your garbage. Put a new garbage bag in the "Throw Away" box and keep on Flying until the timer goes off.

9.Donations: When the "Give Away" box gets full, seal it off, and put it in your car. The next time you are out, you can donate to the area thrift shop. Do not save your clutter for a yard or garage sale, you will be blessed by giving it away. The value can be deducted on your income tax. Remember you are trying to get rid of clutter - not relocate it somewhere else in your home. Now, grab another box, label it "Give Away", and get back to work.

10."Put Away" Stuff: When the "Put Away" box gets full, take the box in your arms and run around the house (good thing you have shoes on - right?) and put the items in the room where they belong. If they have a place, put them there, if not put them in the room where they logically belong. By the time you have finished you will have a place for everything and everything will be in it's place.

11. Timer Goes Off: When the timer goes off, you have to put away all the boxes, but first you have to empty them all. Go as fast as you can.

Add a 5 minute Room Rescue to your morning routine.

Our Routine So Far...

MORNING ROUTINE
-Get up and dressed to lace up shoes; fixing your hair and face.
-Looking at your posted reminders in the kitchen and bathroom.
-Going to Big Tent and reading messages.
-Recognizing the negative voices and changing them: YOU ARE FLYing NOW!
-Put out your Hot Spots for 2 minutes.

BEFORE BED ROUTINE
-Keep your sink shining
-Put out your Hot Spot for 2 minutes.
-Lay out your clothes for tomorrow.

Sunday, June 19, 2011

FLY BabyStep #8

Day 8 - Get A 3 Ring Binder And Put Paper In It.

Find an old 3 ring binder and put paper in it. Then at the top of one page write Morning Routine and on the top of another page write Before Bed Routine, all in pencil. This is a working document, don't let your perfectionism get in the way of your progress. Now you can write your simple routines on each page.

Our Routine So Far...

 Morning Routine
-Get up and dressed to lace up shoes; fixing your hair and face.
-Looking at your posted reminders in the kitchen and bathroom.
-Going to Big Tent and reading messages.
-Recognizing the negative voices and changing them: YOU ARE FLYing NOW!
-Put out your Hot Spots for 2 minutes.

Before Bed Routine
-Keep your sink shining
-Put out your Hot Spot for 2 minutes.
-Lay out your clothes for tomorrow.

Saturday, June 18, 2011

FLY BabyStep #7

Day 7 - Pick Out Your Clothes.

Today's habit adds to our before bed routine. Before you hop into bed; pick out what clothes you are going to wear tomorrow. You can lay them on a chair, or hook, or your closet door. This way if something needs ironed or is stained you can either choose something else or remedy it without making yourself late in the morning. Tomorrow morning all you will have to do to get ready is put on your clothes and fix your hair and face. You'll be surprised how much time you will have saved in the morning.

Our Routine So Far...
-Get Dressed To Shine Your Shoes
-Keeping Our Sink Shining.
-Go To Big Tent And Read Messages.
-Recognizing Negative Voices Change Them and FLY.
-Put Out Your Hot Spot for 2 minutes; just pick one.

We've made it a whole week! We're one quarter the way to creating our new routine habit!

Friday, June 17, 2011

Father's Day Invitations

My sister Kayla and I made Father's Day Invitations for our dad and uncle. We invited them to play mini golf and have ice cream. Here's a peek at how they turned out!


FLY BabyStep #6

Day 6 - Hot Spots

A Hot Spot is an area when left unattended will gradually take over. Like a hot spot in a forest fire. Clutter attracts clutter.

Set your timer to 2 minutes and work until the timer goes off. You don't have to completely clean the hot spot right now, just do 2 minutes then stop. Just get as much done as you can in that 2 minute time frame.

Our Routine So Far...
-Getting dressed to lace up your shoes.
-Keeping our sink shining.
-Going to Big Tent and reading messages(you can also get them emailed).
-Looking at our posted reminders in the kitchen and bathroom.
-Recognizing the negative voices when you hear them and changing the words to be nice to you. That is what FLYing (Finally Loving Yourself is all about)

You've almost made it a week!

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Contrary To Popular Belief Fact #2

"The Black Hills of South Dakota are not hills. Hills rise less than 1.000 from the surrounding area, while mountains rise above that height. The Black Hills rise from 2,000 to 4,000 feet above the surrounding area. Several peaks exceed 6,000 feet, and the highest "hill," Harney Peak, reaches 7,242 feet, higher than any peak in the Appalachian or Ozark mountains. The Sioux Indians named the mountains Paha Sapa ("hills of black") because from the plains, pine trees covering the mountains appear black (and because the Sioux had no idea geologists strictly distinguished between hills and mountains)."




These CTPB facts come from the book "Contrary To Popular Belief" by Joey Green and are not my own words.

FLY BabyStep #5

Day 5- Write Down What You Hear. Write down any nagging, negative, self abusive remarks that pop into your head. Then turn those around to say nice things about yourself. Negativity gets you nowhere, Positivity gets you everywhere.

Our Routine So Far...
-Keeping our sink shining
-Getting dressed to lace up your shoes.
-Going to Big Tent and reading messages.
-Looking at our posted reminders in the kitchen and bathroom.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Make Your Own...Pizza Sauce!

This weekend I tried a new pizza sauce recipe, it turned out really good and it's super easy to make. I thought after it was cooked it was a little too salt & peppery, so I may use half the amount next time, but really it's a personal preference type of thing.

Homemade Pizza Sauce
8 oz tomato sauce
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp basil
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Mix all ingredients together and spread on pizza crust or heat and use as a marinara dipping sauce.

Freezing directions: Place in freezer container or bag and freeze. Thaw to serve.




FLY BabyStep #4

Day 4 - Write These Things Down, This will be the beginning of your control journal. An easy way to help remind you of your new routine is to write on post it notes and place them on your bathroom mirror and above the kitchen sink.

So far we are:
-Getting Dressed To Lace Up Shoes
-Keeping Our Sink Shining
-Going to Big Tent and reading messages.

Keep up the good work!

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Two Giveaways

One of my favorite blogs "Her Noble Character" is giving away a copy of the Duggar's New Book: "A Love That Multiplies." I'm entered in the giveaway, check it out and find out how you can enter too!

Another one of my favorite blogs "Homemaker By Choice" is teaming up with "Thankful Homemaker" and giving away the book "One Thousand Gifts" by Ann Voskamp! I've heard a lot of good things about this book and would really like to read it! Click on the Thankful Homemaker link in this post and find out how to enter the giveaway for yourself!

FLY BabyStep #3

Today's babystep is Do What You Have Been Doing. Just continue to Shine Your Sink and Get Dressed To Lace Up Your Shoes. Today is a great day to check out FLY Lady's Website and explore Big Tent!

Keep up the good work!

Monday, June 13, 2011

WW Week 17 Update!

I lost 1 pound this week! I tracked all week, although didn't get much exercise in. That 1 pound got to my first weight loss goal, which is 5% of my starting weight. WOO HOO! My next goal is 10% of my starting weight!

FLY Babystep #2

Today's Babystep is to Get Dressed To Lace Up Your Shoes this includes doing your hair and face too. Even if you are going to be staying home all day Do This. It will make you feel better about yourself and that's what Finally Loving Yourself is all about.

Don't forget to Shine Your Sink before you go to sleep tonight!

Sunday, June 12, 2011

I'm becoming a FLY lady! Wanna join me?

Are you overwhelmed by clutter? Do you feel like your house is beyond help? Do you suffer from CHAOS(Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome)? Join me on the path to a peaceful, clutter free way of life.

I recently came across FLY Lady's website while visiting one of my favorite blogs Created to be...HIS and thought it would be the perfect thing to start. I'm going to do it on here so you can follow along too! It's a great way to declutter, organize, and streamline your life to make everyday go more smoothly and be more productive. FLY stands for Finally Loving Yourself, the program is all about not being a perfectionist and using small things to make your home, housework, a better place without beating yourself up about it. Even though I will be posting the FLYbaby steps on here, I encourage you to look into the website, there are endless resources available. Just don't get carried away at first, one of the main points of the program is taking small baby steps each day to develop habits rather than doing it all at once and feeling overwhelmed. Keep in mind your house didn't get this way overnight and it won't recover overnight so just quit beating yourself up about it.


Ready to start? Here we go...
 
Baby Step 1. Go Shine Your Sink
 
Here are the directions on how to shine your sink the first time. You won't have to do this whole process every day.
 
Be sure to rinse well between each step.
1. Take all the dishes out of the sink.
2. Run very hot water into the sink. Fill to the rim. Only do one side at a time. Then add 1 cup of bleach to the sink and let it sit for 1 hour. Then use some tongs to pull the plug. Don't get the bleach water on your clothes!
3. Rinse your sink well.
4. Use some cleanser to scrub your sink. Make sure you thoroughly rinse the cleanser out of your sink.
5. Take a sharp edge and clean around the rim of your sink, just like you would clean under your fingernails.
6.Clean around the faucets too. You may need an old toothbrush.
7. Now get your window cleaner and give it a good shine.
8. If you are still not happy with it you can use some car wax, but it really is thoroughly cleaned and doesn't have to be perfect.
9. Everytime you run water in your sink dry it out with a dishtowel, no more water spots.
10. Don't have a fit if someone doesn't take as much pride in your sink as you do. It is very easy to fix. You have already done the hard part. You will never have to go through this process again. Daily maintenance will keep it looking this way all the time.
 
After you do these steps the first time you won't have to do them everynight. All you'll need to do is wipe it out with a towel each time you use it, and make sure it's clean and empty each night before you go to bed. Having the sink shining is "FLYLady's" way of giving you a hug each morning!

The main purpose of this program is to do small steps that become a daily routine. I'd love to know if you are going to join me on this adventure!

Monday, June 6, 2011

WW Week 16 Update!

This week I didn't track at all, ate junk all week, and didn't exercise at all, but somehow I lost 2 pounds!!! I have absolutely no idea how it happened, but I'm not going to complain about it! YAY 2 pounds!

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Love Letters from God...Proverbs 3:5-6

PROVERBS 3:5-6 ~ "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths"

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Make Your Own...Turkey Sausage

Last week I was wanting to make more breakfast burritos, but I wanted to make them with turkey sausage instead of pork to be healthier. Since our small town doesn't carry turkey sausage, but it does carry ground turkey so I made my own! It was super simple and very good. I was a little skeptical when I read the ingredient list, but the end result is fantastic!

Turkey Sausage
1 pound lean ground turkey
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon rubbed sage
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger




1. Crumble turkey into a large bowl.








2. Add the salt, sage, pepper and ginger.









 3. Mix well. You can shape into patties if desired or simply cook as is. In a nonstick skillet coated with nonstick cooking spray, cook over medium heat until done. If making patties, cook until the internal temperature is 165 degrees F.




4. Enjoy!!!

P.S. Let me know how you like it if you try it!

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Kayla's Graduation Thank You Cards

White Border 5x7 folded card
Shutterfly custom cards for Valentines Day, Easter & Mother's Day.
View the entire collection of cards.

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