Motivation and Inspiration

     Happy Monday everyone! Sorry it took me so long to post this, had some issues with Blogger on the iPad. This week isn't starting out on the best of terms for me, I think my allergies are trying to become a sinus infection and I have been dealing with some heart issues (don't worry, I've had this for years) but I guess that gave me more time to work on today's post. 

     

     When it comes to organizing we all have to to find our own motivation and inspiration. Those things may sound like they are very similar but really they are two different things. What is your motivation for being organized? Motivation is defined as:

1.) The reason or reasons one has for acting in a particular way.
2.) The general desire or willingness of someone to do something.

So what is your reason to organize your life? Is it to decrease your stress level? Is it so you can focus more on spending quality time with your family? Is it so that you can find ways to save a little more money? Is it because you can't stand the chaos anymore? Find the reason you need to organize your life and then you will have your motivation. Motivation is what moves us toward our goals.

But then the second thing we have to find is our inspiration. Inspiration is defined as:

1.) The process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, esp. to do something creative

So what is it that mentally stimulates you? Is it a picture of a calm and organized. Space that you would love to call your own?is it a certain type of music that makes you feel productive? Is it the calm that you feel when you are in an organized space?

There are so many ways that we can find our motivation and our inspiration. But it is something that we can only find for ourselves. I guess you could say that motivation is the reason that we want and inspiration is the reason that we do. 

So today, think about the things that you want for your life and then find what moves you to act. If we take some time to determine this, then we can be OrganizedForReal!

I am finally back!!!

     As you know I haven't been around for a while. I've been dealing with some health issues and just an overall super busy schedule on days where I feel good. Things have been a little better lately except for dealing with allergies (welcome spring!) and I really want to get back to blogging. I think I found a new blogging area, where I'm sitting in fact writing on my iPad. This week we got furniture, a grill and pots and planters out on the balcony of our condo that we moved into right before I had to stop blogging. It's so relaxing out here. I can look out over the courtyard with a pool in the middle, it's quiet and it's nice and cool which is quite refreshing after this heat we have been having.

     There have been quite a few changes in our life since I stopped blogging back in December. Graham Cracker is back to work, he works for a tree service company so his work is seasonal. He's glad to back at it. As for me, now that I am feeling a little better, my life seems to have gotten even busier. I am basically working full time now. I will have 4, yes, 1,2,3,4 jobs. I am an account executive for a gift card manufacturer, I am a personal assistant for a home-school coordinator, and now I am personal chef for a friend and my parents. Soon I will also be the accountant for the tree service that my husband works for (its his fathers business). So needless to say, there seems to be no spare time. But I love blogging and I love sharing with all of you the awesome things that I have done and accomplished. Starting Monday, look for new posts to help you to organize your own life! So, to those of you who were faithful readers before my hiatus and to those of you reading this blog for the first time, lets get OrganizedForReal! 

Still alive!

Hi everyone! I know, I know, it's been a month since there has been any sign of life here on my blog. Life has just been crazy. I'm hoping to start again soon, I've been doing a lot of things that have definitely been blog worthy but I've just been too busy to share. I hope you understand and I hope to see you soon.

Update: 1000 pageviews!!!!

     Hey Guys! Last night I reached 1000 page views in about a month and a half! Thank you so much for checking my blog out! I hope that you have enjoyed it! Keep coming back to see what other ideas you can get when it comes to organizing or decorating! I have some awesome ideas for posts coming up so keep checking back! If you have any ideas or things you would like to see, please, please, please, leave me comment below! Until then, stay OrganizedForReal!

Dollar Store Haul- 11/1/12

      Today I thought I would post my first Dollar Store Haul! In our town we have a great dollar store! Of course everything is a dollar or less but the merchandise is also always changing! So today I was going to the dollar store with a goal in mind but while I was there I wanted to check things out since I hadn't been there for a long time. 
     When I went I knew that I wanted to get 2 mugs and 6 picture frames. The picture frames are for one of my best friends wedding reception on Saturday. The 2 mugs were for making personalized mugs for part of their gift. Look for that post soon.
     When I came home and took everything out of the bags this is what I came home with! And all for a little more than 20 dollars!!!

Awesome!

Here are the picture frames that I got for the reception, they all have a mirrored frame. We are going to put their engagement pictures in them and then after the reception, they can keep them!

Then, in this picture, you can see the 2 mugs I got as well as a basket, a scarf, a wolf, and 2 chocolate bars. How does this make a wedding gift? Well, you'll just have to wait to read that post won't you? It is awesome!

I also got 3 different sizes of containers to use for organizing, I'm not use what I am going to do with all of them but I will let you know when I use them.

Then I also found a recipe organizer and cable flags. Keep a look out for posts about these in the near future!

     Then I got something that my husband had ask for the night before when we made spaghetti. We had to get rid of our old pasta spoon and we have both missed it. Then finally I got something for myself. Our dollar store always has cute jewelry and many times it is the same jewelry that you would see in Target! But honestly, aren't those cute earrings??? Love them!

     So how you ever gone to the dollar store and found some awesome stuff? Please share your stories with me! I'd love to hear them! Then we can learn how to HaulForReal!!!

Tip of The Day: Cleaning With Friends

     Do you ever know that you need to clean but you have no desire? Do you ever feel like if you just had someone to help you that you could get motivated? I think we have all been there haven't we?I've been meaning to write this post for a while but time has just escaped me. This happened to me one day while we were still at our old house. There was so much to do but I had zero motivation.I was texting one of my girlfriends, Brittney, and she was having the same problem. So I suddenly got the idea, "Why don't we just clean together?" Well, the problem with that is that we live a state apart so that was out of the question but then I thought, "Why don't we just clean our own houses at the same time?" That way we would know that we weren't the only ones doing it.     
    So I told Brittney my idea. The rules were:
1.) For 1 hour, we have to clean as much as we can as fast as we can!
2.) No sitting down!
3.) No texting each other until the hour was over!
     She thought that it was a great idea so off we went! I was amazed at how much I got done! I got all the laundry ready to wash, started a load, did all the dishes, and picked up the whole house! It was great! 
     Then we texted for a little bit and I said that we should do a second hour. I decided that for the second hour we had to do something that we had been putting off. For Brittney it was folding the huge pile of laundry. For me, it was writing a card and wrapping a gift for my brother-in-laws graduation party that day! So off we went again! And we both accomplished our goal after that hour!
     So next time that you are not feeling motivated but know that you need to get something done, text one of your girlfriends and set a time limit to get as much done as you can! You'll be amazed at how much you will get done! And maybe after that you can have a girls night to celebrate!
Try this and your house will be clean and OrganizedForReal!!!

Shout Out: Speed Dial

So this weekend a friend of mine showed me a really cool app for Google Chrome. Google Chrome is my favorite web browser and I don't like to use anything else. He showed me an awesome app called Speed Dial. (link here) This app allows you to make your browser page look like this!

You get to totally customize how this looks.

The options page looks like this. 

     The top two drop down menu's allow you to choose the number of rows and columns that you want. The bar below that allows you to choose distance between buttons. Then you can choose the background image or background color. It was so much fun to set up!

     To set a button simple click on it and it will bring up a set dial menu like this. 

The "Title" allows you to put a title above each picture but I choose not to do this in order to make it look cleaner. The "URL" is where you put the website that you want to link to. Then you can find a picture online to set as the image for the button. Choose something that will make it obvious as to what that button is. For example, use a logo for the website like I did with Hulu and YouTube. 

I absolutely love using this. It makes my web surfing so much easier. I never forget any of the things that I regularly check and it is so much easier than using the bookmarks. Give this a try and your internet will be OrganizedForReal!