Find Three Hobbies You Love

    As you may or may not know, I am a high stress, low downtime person. I have never really had anything that I consider to be a hobby. I guess I just felt that hobbies were a waste of time and energy and possibly even money. But I recently found a quote that changed that thinking for me.

"Find three hobbies you love: one to make you money, one to keep you in shape and one to be creative."

     So I finally realized that hobbies really do serve very important purposes. Like the quote says, they can make you extra money, keep you in shape and healthy and help you be creative as well as relieve stress and give a meaning to your "downtime." I figured why not try this out!

So I really got to thinking, "What are my the hobbies or what do I want them to be?"

One to make you money: I am having a hard time figuring this one out. Any ideas or suggestions? I think this one is the biggest struggle for me because the two things that I thought of are either seasonal or I don't have time for them on a weekly basis like would be required.

One to keep you in shape: I'll admit that I have definitely been struggling with exercising for a while. We all know it's important but life gets in the way sometimes. I don't seem to have the time with my new schedule nor a real routine that I want to start. So I've thought about this one for quite a while and I think I have decided to take up running again. The weather is finally nice, its a great stress relief and it really is something that I miss. Today I am going to look more into a routine that I will start. I would like to prepare for the 5K in our town that I did two years ago. It is in two months and I think that would give me plenty of time to train. Even though I don't quite have a plan yet, my wonderful hubby is going to go on a walk/ jog with me today cause what a better day to start than on the first of the month, am I right?

One to be creative: I've really been enjoying the creative aspect of blogging. It allows me to write about the things that go on inside my mind and that I love and love to share with you! I never thought I would enjoy writing as much as I do either! Now that I am shooting for one post a week, it is much more manageable than when I was trying to post everyday. Maybe someday I will start posting more but for now this is working well!

     So what about you? What are your hobbies? How many do you have? What categories do that fit into? If you are like me, maybe it is time to find three hobbies for yourself! Then even when it comes to our hobbies, we can be OrganizedForReal!!!

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!

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!

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!

Tip of the Day: Running Errands

     Sometimes you feel like there are too many places that you need to run and not nearly enough time to do it all right? Well the best thing you can do is group all of your errands together and run them all at one time. 
     You may need to go to the bank, get groceries, run to the post office, fill the car with gas, wash the car, pick up meds at the pharmacy and the list goes on and on. Some of these you may need to take care of once a month, others once or twice a week.
     But why not make a list of your errands and set a specific time to run them all? This way it will not only save you gas by making an efficient route to accomplish them all but it will save your valuable time as well. 
     For myself, I have really benefited by doing this because I can run all of my errands on Monday morning and then forget about them for the rest of the week! Try it out and tell me what you think. Then you can Organize RunYourErrandsForReal!

Tip of the Day: Master Grocery List

     You're in the grocery store and you go from aisle 1 to 2 to 5 to 6 and back to 2, then back to 5. You are jumping all around the store, you're frustrated and you just want to go home. Sound familiar? What if you could go straight through the store with no back tracking? Sound good? Well guess what? You can! How? By having a master grocery list! 
     This takes just a little bit of time to put together but will save you so much time every time you go to the store! If you can picture a mental outline of your grocery store, go ahead. If not, the next time you are in your grocery store, make note of the different sections. You will list produce, canned goods, dry goods, desserts, ethnic, pasta, dairy, meat, frozen, etc. You can be as specific as you want. On your computer, create a document that has about 3 columns. Through these column, list the sections in the order of the store. 
     Now when you fill in the groceries that you need to get, put them in the correct section. You can either fill the sections in on your computer or just print the list with the section titles and fill it out as you need. If there are certain items you purchase weekly, feel free to type them into the appropriate section. This will make your weekly grocery shopping even easier.
     I have also found it helpful to have an area at the top of the list to list the food you are making for the week so that you can reference it while shopping. This way you can be OrganizedAtTheGroceryStoreForReal!

Meal Plan and Prep: Week of Sept 24th

     Monday morning is always the day that I plan my meals for the week and get groceries. So here is what this week's menu looks like...

Monday-

Lunch- Leftover Taco Soup

Supper- Bacon and eggs and pancakes

Tuesday-

Lunch- Leftover Taco Soup

Supper- Naan pizzas

Wednesday-

Lunch- Leftover smokies from freezer

Supper- White Chili

             Cabbage Salad

Thursday-

Lunch- Leftover smokies

Supper- Chicken Broccoli Alfredo

             Raspberry Salad

Friday-

Lunch- Leftover alfredo

Supper- Croation Brats

             Brussel sprouts

Saturday-

Lunch- Leftovers

Supper- Leftovers

Sunday-

Lunch- Eat Out

Supper- Popcorn and snacks

     So I got my groceries at Fareway and spent less than 40 dollars for the whole week! Awesome! I'm so happy about that! Once I got home it was time to prep some of the food for the week like I talked about in my post about putting away groceries. I started by putting some chicken in a big pot with a little water in the bottom, then I added lots of seasoning to it and let it cook. 

While the chicken was cooking I decided to chop the veggies. I chopped broccoli and red bell pepper for supper on Thursday. I went ahead and put it in a bag and labeled it Chicken Alfredo. 

Then after the chicken was cooking I seperated it like this. 

I took out the chicken itself and then strained the broth. I sliced half the chicken for chicken alfredo and shredded the rest for white chili. In the bag for the white chili I added back what I had strained from the broth as I had added dehydrated onion and this will be a good addition to the chili. I labeled them like this and put them in the freezer. 

Then I left the broth sit in the container for a little while and then skimmed the fat off the top. Then I poured it into ice cube trays and froze them for about 6 hours. It made 22 cubes or 22 oz. I them took them out of the trays and put them in a resealable bag and labeled it. I will be using some of the broth for the chili this week. 

So by doing this I am Organized CookingForReal!

Quick Tip Of The Day: Bathroom Clock

     So you're getting ready in the bathroom like you do every morning and you have no idea how much time you have left until you need to leave. So what do you do? You run to the bedroom or you check the clock on your phone, right?
     I don't know why this isn't more common but why don't all bathrooms have a clock in them? Do you have one in your bathroom. Leave me a comment and let me know if you do! I think that a clock should be a staple in every bathroom. I think a lot more people would be on time if they had one in their bathroom. So that is why today's quick tip of the day is: Have a clock in every bathroom. If you do, it will help you to be Organized OnTimeForReal!

Tip of the Day: Putting Away Groceries

     So, you just got home from running your errands for the week (time management post coming about this soon), you get the car unloaded and now that seemingly daunting task of putting away groceries. "Where do I even start?", you think. 
     Well first, take the groceries out of the bags so you can see what you have. If the person who packed your groceries did a good job, things of the like will be together. But if they didn't do such a good job, this gives you the chance to sort things out. Sort your items by refrigerator items, freezer items, dry goods, pre-packaged food, canned goods, cleaning supplies, paper products, etc. 
     Now let's put things away. Put away freezer items first so that you don't allow them time to start thawing. Follow this with refrigerator items so that they do not get a chance to warm either. Group all of the refrigerator items that you can do some preparing to together so that you can get those out in a few minutes when everything is put away to wash (be sure to dry them well so they will keep in the frig), cut, and package them up. 
     Now put away your dry goods and canned good. Now its time to repackage your pre-packaged food (granola bars, chips, pretzels, snack foods, etc.). Take an single serving foods out of the box of package and dump them into your grab and go basket or container. This way when you are heading out the door you can find what you want in one convenient place. I use a stainless steel canister set to do this. I have one for bars, one for fruit snacks, one for Taffy. Then your can take your chips and pretzels and package them in small resealable bags. Only do this if you are going to be using them soon or they will go stale. This is something that I haven't really started doing yet but I want to. 
     Now go ahead and put away your paper and cleaning products away as they are probably stored in another area of the house. 
     Now come back to the kitchen and pull out all of the food the you want to prepare. This could include fruit and vegetables that you want to wash and cut or it could be meet that you know you want cut or marinated a certain way for a meal that you planned for this week. (Post coming soon about preparing a weekly meal plan.) For example, I love grapes but if I just leave them in the bag I dont take the time to cut a bunch off and wash it so then they don't get eaten. So I take them out of the bag, wash them and take them all off the stem and put them into a resealable container. (I'm actually eating some of these grapes while I am writing this.) I also wash and cut any vegetables that I can into the size I want (whole carrots into sticks, celery into stalks, etc.) You can also put some of these into snack size resealable bags if you want to be able to grab them and go. (I may do a post about some of the containers that I use in the kitchen, if anyone is interested.) I have found that doing this helps me to eat more fruit and vegetables and my husband loves it too.
     There you go, you not only got your groceries put away but you got a head start on preparing your food for the week! It may take a little extra time to do the extra preparation but believe me, it's well worth it through the week. Hope you enjoyed getting OrganizedForReal!

Quick Tip of the Day: Garbage bags

     So today's quick tip not only saves you time but it also saves you space. Keep garbage bags in the bottom of the garbage can! You probably heard this tip before but have you actually ever done it? It makes so much sense! You take the bag out and you can instantly grab another one. And now you don't have to have a place in a drawer to put that roll or box of garbage bags! Genius! It takes just a few minutes to put the bags in the garbage can but it will save you so much time, trust me! Try it out now and you will really be OrganizedForReal!