Quick Tip of the Day: Anniversary Cards

                   
     Good evening organizers! It's been a busy day including celebrating our 3rd anniversary with my in-laws who are celebrating their 25th anniversary (ours on the 14th and their on the 15th). But I didn't want to leave you out since I said I would try to post every Friday so I thought that I would just share a quick tip with you about anniversaries! We personally don't celebrate holidays or birthdays but there are still so many important days to remember, wedding anniversaries!!! The day that two people make vows to each other in front of God and their families and friends is an incredibly special day and one that should be remembered for years to come!
                                   
     So how do you keep them all straight and never forget them? Well I personally use two different things. First, I have have a list of anniversaries in chronological order so that each month I can look at the list to see who will be celebrating in the month to come . I also add a small note in my monthly planner.   
     
     Now this doesn't mean that I am the perfect person who sends a card to everyone every year. Believe me, I wish I was that person who always sent cards for all the perfect occasions or reason. But I'm not and let's face it, there aren't that many people that are as busy as we are nowadays. But even a short text or a quick call to show someone that you remembered the day, that you care about them and that they are special (especially on their special day) can mean the world to them! So go ahead, start making a list. Start with family, add friends and don't forget to add new dates when you get wedding invitations as well! Before you know it, you will have the list so that when it comes to anniversaries, you can say that you are OrgainzedForReal!

Tip of the Day: Spring Cleaning with your Husband

     Hello organizers! I know I haven't been around for about a month now so I thought I would share a quick update and a tip with you all today!

    So first, the update! Things have been super crazy around our house lately! Both my husband and I have been looking for new jobs recently. My husband has been looking really hard and will hear back on Monday to see if he got a sales job that he thinks he nailed the interview for! And as for me, I think I found my dream job. Cue the drum roll *insert drum roll here* I am a nanny!!! I just finished my second full week as a nanny for an incredibly intelligent and adorable two year old girl and a super cute and lovable 14 week old boy! I'm already completely in love with these kids! So much fun to be with and care for, I'm so lucky! I'll try to share some ideas relating to kids on the blog now when I can. My schedule is super packed now and the only reason that I am blogging today is because I will have Fridays off through June and then my job will be Monday through Friday. But maybe I will try to blog every Friday for a little while. Sorry to ramble on but as you can tell I'm super excited about all this! Okay, so now to the tip of the day!

     Today's tip of the day is actually something that I am going to be practicing today! Maybe its the fact that its spring, maybe it is the new super busy schedule and wanting to be organized or maybe I am just ready to purge but its true, you really can spring clean with our husband! Now maybe the husbands aren't always the first to jump at the idea of spring cleaning but they can be a huge help! Maybe they may clean and organize the garage for you but they can also help you with things you may not think of right away, like going through your clothes! (Wait, what? Did she just say my husband can help me with my clothes? Is she crazy?) Okay, well maybe I am a little crazy but its true! If you are anything like me, you will look at your wardrobe and you are embarrassed to admit that you see things you haven't worn for years, clothes that have a stain but are still okay if you were them with the right thing that covers it or there is that piece of clothing that needs resown "someday" but you've never done it. It's time for that to change! Now maybe you aren't as lucky as me to have a husband who loves fashion and who you can trust to make fashion decisions for you but you may have a husband who wants some more room in your closet (I'm totally guilty with owning 3/4 of ours!) or maybe he secretly wants to tell you that a certain outfit isn't the most flattering without hurting your feelings or he wants to tell you that he just simply doesn't like something in your closet. So like I said, I'm ready for a change and I'm ready to finally get rid of things, so today is the day! Graham is going to help me go through all of my clothes and I am going to try my hardest to listen! Just because I bought or was given something and "might" wear it "someday" (I'm realizing that never happens) doesn't mean I have to keep it! So now that I know my husband is going to help me and I have told you about it... lets do this! Let's get OrganizedForReal!

Shout Out: Pinterest

Ahhh Pinterest... Is there anything better than snuggling up in bed with a cup of coffee or tea with a computer on your lap surfing the world of Pinterest? Amazing recipes, killer work out ideas, fabulous fashion and beauty tips, gorgeous wedding ideas (why did my wedding have to come before Pinterest?!?), adorable animals and hilarious jokes all in one place! 

If you haven't been on Pinterest, I highly suggest that you do but be forewarned it is fantastically addictive! With so many ideas floating around on the internet it can be hard to find what you want or find the things that you never knew you wanted! *Enter Pinterest*

Looking for something specific? Search it.
Looking for things your friends love or want to do? Add your friends and see it in your feed. 
Looking for inspiration? Scan the popular feed and enjoy the world being opened up to you! 
Want to keep that idea close? Pin it to a board.
Want to share your idea with a special friend? Send it to them!
Having a bad day and need a laugh? Check out the humor section!
Want to help your children to learn? Check out the education section for awesome ideas!
In a rut and have no clue what to make for dinner? Check out my favorite section, food and drink!
The possibilities are endless!!!

Pinterest has been described as virtual clutter but if we keep it organized and really use it and benefit from it, is it a waste? Personally, all of my recipes nowadays come from Pinterest. In fact, I not only have boards separating the different kinds of food but I also have a board called "Current Plan" where I put pins of this weeks recipes and any other things I am going to try to do or work on. There is also a board called "OrganizedForReal" to help get my blogs out there! It's helped me plan vacations, set goals, helped me with my job, helped me understand myself at times and helped me to have a good laugh! In fact, feel free to check out my boards here! 

Obviously you can tell that I love Pinterest but to fully understand, you will have to try it out for yourself! So go ahead, set up a free account and get to pinning! But as always, let's stay OrganizedForReal!

Recipe: Sausage Bisquik muffins

     Tired of cereal for breakfast but you need something really quick in the morning? Tired of breakfast really adding to the morning drag? Well then, I have a great recipe for you! I made these for the first time (will totally be making them again!) yesterday after I found this recipe on one of my Facebook groups and I had everything I needed to make it in my kitchen, only four ingredients!!!

Sausage Bisquik Muffins

1 cup of Bisquick (next time I will home-made mix that I plan on making)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
4 eggs (beaten)
1 lb sausage (I added the seasonings that I always do to my sausage to make it spicy Italian sausage)

Mix in a bowl and add to a greased muffin tin. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes and there you have it! 

      An amazingly easy breakfast! Perfect for a couple mornings depending on the size of your family! I'm sure they would freeze well also, may have to try that next time! Make some ahead of time to easily add to your meal plan when there simply isn't enough time in the morning. Pop them in the microwave or toaster oven and breakfast is served! Who doesn't love a simple flavorful breakfast? But of course, here we are keeping it OrganizedForReal!

Hello? Is anyone there?

     Yes! I'm here, I'm here! I'm back! Being sick at home for a while and not being able to do much leads you back to the computer quite often! It's been far too long that I've been away from OrganizedForReal! Let's try to change that shall we? New day, slightly new look to the blog too!

      The last few months have brought about quite a few changes for us, nothing too big like a house or a baby but there have been a couple things that have made a significant impact on our lives. Not too long ago I discovered Dave Ramsey. Long story short, I've become obsessed. In fact, right now as I am typing, I am listening to his show on his website. Here in the Hull household we have adopted the baby steps and I am happy to say that we are on baby step 3! But wait, what are the baby steps you may ask!?! Simply put they are as follows:

1.) Save 1000 dollars in an emergency fund.
2.) Pay off all debt (except for your mortgage).
3.) Build a three to six month emergency fund.
4.) Save 15% for retirement.
5.) Save college funding for your children if you have any and if you choose to finance their college. 
6.) Pay off your home mortgage.
7.) Build wealth and give, give, give!

     In our journey, I have have read tons of financial articles and I am just amazed at the financial situation of the average person today! The average person is in debt over 15,000 dollars! I'm not in any debt so there is someone out there with a whole lot more! People have become so used to making payments on EVERYTHING that they have no idea what it is like to have any money leftover at the end of the week, to have money to save or even money to give. It's a sad situation. One thing that Dave tells many people is that they are making way too much money to be as broke as they are. That's just such an amazing thought to me. 

     Yesterday I got to help someone come up with a budget and they will be current on all bills, paying bills on time and in advance and have baby step 1 done as well by January 1st! "Well that must take a lot of time to figure all that out!" is what you are thinking right? WRONG! We figured it all out in about two hours! It was amazing! And this morning I heard from her again and she said that she got to sit down with her husband last night, they looked over it, made a couple minor changes and they are going to be following the plan and working on it together! How awesome is that? 

     Needless to say, working with this family has definitely given me an boost and an idea. I am thinking about becoming a financial advisor. Yes, there are financial advisers out there but most are just focused on investing not on helping those who are struggling now. I have no idea where this is going to take me and I have a lot of research to do before I decide anything. 

      But I also wanted to come back to this blog with a slight spin on things. We are going to stay OrganizedForReal but I also want to include some articles on how to be organized with your finances, your budget, saving you more money! What do think? Can we do it? Sure we can! Let's get OrganizedForReal!!! 

Project: Sugar Scrubs

     Sugar scrubs- so luxurious but they can be so expensive! I did a quick google search of sugar scrubs and you can spend between 10 and 90 dollars on one sugar scrub! I can't believe that! You might be surprised to learn that you may even have all of the ingredients that you need for your very own sugar scrub in your very own pantry! So not only will you save money but it will be an all natural product that is even safe to eat!
      
     Yesterday was girls day at one of my girlfriends and on the agenda along with coffee and lots of talking was making sugar scrubs! Nikki had gone to the dollar store the day before and found adorable glass jars, some ribbon and scrapbook paper for cute tags! We had looked at several different recipes online, Pinterest of course, and decided that we would make two different ones. We talked about the combination of ingredients that we wanted to have in each one and came up with "Lemon Drop" and "Cinnamon Roll"! 

     For the "Lemon Drop" recipe, put about 5 cups of white sugar, about 1 1/4 cups of lemon juice and 1 cup of olive oil in a bowl and mix. The "Lemon Drop" is great as it is but we decided that next time we would add some lemon essential oil so that it has an even stronger lemon scent.

     You may need to adjust the sugar or the liquid in order to get it to the consistency that you prefer but remember that as it sets in your jar that it will separate and you will need to mix it when you use it. 

     When we were coming up with the recipe for the "Cinnamon Roll" we were thinking of literal ingredients in a cinnamon roll. You have sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon right? Now how amazing would those ingredients be in a scrub? We made a double recipe of two different mix's, a light and a dark mix and layered them to look like frosting on a cinnamon roll!

     For the "frosting" mixture we used 3 cups of white sugar, 2 cups of coconut oil that we melted. With this scrub we wanted it to be thicker so that the layers would stand out better instead of them mixing in the jar. 

     For the "cinnamon" mixture we mixed 3 cups of brown sugar, 2 cups of coconut oil, 2 tsp vanilla and 2 tsp cinnamon. Then we just alternated layers and we think it turned out pretty amazing if I do say so myself! So cute! And let me tell you, they are heavy jars!!!

     Now as you can see in the "Lemon Drop" jar, it was already separating by the time we took the picture as it was the first one that we made. There is nothing wrong with that, just be sure to mix it as you use it.

     This morning when I took my shower I decided to use some of the "Cinnamon Roll" scrub before I shaved. When I opened it, it was as I had expected. There was a layer of solid coconut oil on top. So I dug into it and I think that as I get down into the sugar it will be fine. But next time we may try and do half coconut oil and half olive oil. Now if you use a smaller container for your scrub and your shower gets nice and hot, it may remelt as coconut oil has a low melting point at 76 degrees. 

     But to know how great this sugar scrub really is, you are going to have to try it out yourself! Its a great exfoliant, but not harsh. It's super moisturizing with wonderful healthy oils, leaving your skin silky smooth. And we can't forget that they smell great!!! So go ahead, try them out and let me know what you think of them and be sure to share your favorite recipes with me! So until next time, scrub away and stay OrganizedForReal!

New Year

      A new year, a new start to my blog? Perhaps. Sometimes life gets too crazy but then you have to step back and realize that some things need to take more priority than they have in the future. That's what I feel like is happening for me. Life has been ridiculously busy and lots of things have gotten pushed aside. But the last few weeks I have had a break from work and have been able to get caught up on some things, have some time to relax and have some time to refocus.   

Blogging is something that I really did enjoy. And how amazing to check on my blog and see that there are over 3,300 views of this blog! With things slowing down in my life, one of the things I have been working on is getting my life back into a schedule and order. I  have lots of things that I want to share with you and I can't wait to do it! I'm going to try to post a couple of times a week. Possibly a meal plan along with another post. Be sure to check out my other blog at runningformemyselfandi.blogspot.com for my fitness and health tips as well! So until my next post, stay OrganizedForReal my friends!