Hellooooo, Anybody Out There??

Wow, so almost another month has past without me blogging. I don't purposely avoid my blog, I just don't think about it nearly so often - stating the obvious I know. I'm not super busy that I don't have time to blog more regularly but I'm not much inspired or motivated? Not that my posts exude of inspiration but I think you know what I mean. Life has been happening and I've been {for the most part} enjoying it. I'll give you a quick bulleted update for now & maybe one day soon I'll get back to being more bloggy.

• Michael starts part day preschool today - he is very excited and so am I. I will have three hours a day two days a week with only one child in tow.
• Michael is finally potty training, still making progress but he's much more interested than he was.
• I earned another 'promotion' in my business. I can now wear my Red Jacket to meetings & company events and am only one recruit away from my next promotion & commission increase.
• Lydia {mostly} sits still while I put her hair up in one or two little pony tails - so cute!
• Hubby is doing well and should be getting a promotion next month.
• We're getting closer to R&R - though I can't give out specific dates.

Well I guess that's most of the highlights. I've also done some more organizing - still no paint or curtains in the kitchen, I'd like to work on the curtains at least. I have several projects that I'm hoping to finish before Shawn comes home while leaving me plenty to do after he leaves again. I hope everyone is doing well & I'll try to browse around some blogs over the next few days. Thanks for visiting & checking in on me!

And here are some pictures of the paint can I made for my sister's shower. She's using it in the nursery to hold the baby's headbands, brushes, hats - all things related to the head. I forgot to take pictures of the letters so I'm waiting to get a picture from my sis.

SMART to not procrastinate

I am late in posting but it's still Saturday so yay! me. For any of you who have read me for a few months you have surely figured out that I am a procrastinator and if you haven't figured it out this proves it all. I had a Mary Kay Open House planned for a couple weeks now and still everything was done last minute. I had been organizing things in my house throughout the week and milling over ideas for the party but didn't actually start doing anything until yesterday and even that was slow going. So I was mopping my floors at 10:30pm - which is really frustrating when grocery store {read: post housing} floors never look clean. I finally decided that I wasn't trying to sell my house or my housecleaning skills and was okay with it not being perfect. My displays looked good, the house was clean and it turned out to be a good & productive event. However, I REALLY don't want to procrastinate again. When I did my last minute trip to Super Wal*Mart yesterday I forgot the roast, cereal & crackers yet came home with two decorative pillows {brown & on sale for $10} and a bath mat {sale for $5} which were items we needed in the house but didn't feed us. Fortunately I keep my pizza coupons so someone else cooked dinner tonight.

As for the rest of the week as I had mentioned I did get some sorting & organizing done. I tackled some of the paperwork and found that I need several accordion files or just a filing cabinet. Between my Mary Kay paper work, hubby's 'official' Army paperwork, my Army related papers, bills, medical records, schedules, coupons, warranties, manuals...OH the list goes on. I need to organize more before I can cross that one off my list - maybe next SMART day. ;) Next week I'm planning on getting the shelves for my pantry, if I can just remember where I'm supposed to get them from. And I still need to get fabric & borrow a sewing machine or mail it to this sweet chick and let her do it. I have decided that I will paint my kitchen after all, not sure when exactly but it will get painted. I mentioned it to hubby during a chat this week and he didn't bat an eye - at least he didn't tell me if he did, so I think he's okay with it. Of course I'm sure that will mean many trips to the paint section and hanging paint chips on the walls. I'll be sure to share with you all once I get that more figured out.

For my habit, this week I didn't improve much. I think I had the kitchen cleaned 3 nights this week. I just need to focus or start doing the dishes right after dinner before I'm tired after getting the kids to bed. Thanks for stopping by! I hope you had a great week & if you want to get SMART or see how others are being SMART click on the button above.

PINK doing GREEN

About a week after I posted about Going Green I opened up my recent order from Mary Kay and was surprised to see peanut packaging. They used to package orders with plastic filled with air - it looked like several bags connected together but they weren't bags, like a plastic air filled sausage. Anyway, as I found my products in the sea of peanut packaging I found this note at the bottom of the box. I loved the heading of their note so much that I copied it for this post. Isn't that cute 'pink' - just about everything Mary Kay is or has pink or black on it - doing 'green'...I thought it was catchy. Anyway, now I have one more thing to boast about in the business I run. I've read some environmental focused blogs talking about 'green' being a trend or something that businesses are doing just to market to more customers. This may very well be true. But I figure trend or not it's still a good thing.

Oh and to update on my last green post - I still love my canvas bags. I would love them even more if I could remember to pop the trunk BEFORE going into the store more often {new habits take time to develop}. Leendaluu suggested doing a canvas bag exchange - it would be fun to swap bags, Christine was inspired to get her own - have you? - and Ter said that some stores offer bins for recycling plastic bags. I'm going to have to see if my stores do because I have WAY more plastic bags then I think I could ever reuse. Here's what Mel had to say about plastic bags, I didn't know about all this before I bought my totes.

"Yes, I agree. I like to use the re-usable bags as well (or my hands /pockets/purse if I only buy a thing or two). It takes approx. 1,000 years for plastic to degrade--and it's only been around since the 1950's or so as a substitute for cutting down trees for paper bags... so where does all that plastic go? Scary to see that it ends up in our oceans, tons and tons circling and whirling around in massive gyres waiting for their appointed year to be no more. There is, fortunately, research taking place as we "speak" in the creation of plastic bags with a century-shelf life. A much better proposition than 1,000. So, even things like Tupperware and other plastic containers may soon be very more accommodating for the masses."

So are any of you going green or getting greener? Thanks for stopping by!

Talk About Tuesday - my mary kay

So call this a shameless plug if you'd like but it's my blog so I can do a plug - shameless or not. ;) I haven't done a TAT post in a couple of weeks so let's try that today. My last Mary Kay order came to my house last week & I was really excited. Not only so I could deliver products to my great customers but because I had some goodies waiting for me also. The one I was most excited about was the travel roll up bag. It's one place for all of my skin care & make up that I can use at home or while traveling. No more scrambling to find plastic baggies to store products in or rummaging through my suitcase looking for my moisturizer. And more importantly less storage space is used under my bathroom sink and everything is at my fingertips. As you can see there are four compartments. Knowing me & my OCDness you know that I've got them divided into categories. The top two are for skin care products I use on my face. The top compartment has my TimeWise Skin care (combo to oily), acne treatment (yes I need acne treatment at 25) and my satin lips. These are products I use daily, though my face wash is usually in the shower but I put it in here for photo sake. The second compartment is skin care products I don't use daily. Right now it just has my microdermabrasion 2 step process. If you haven't tried this you really should. It's so simple (massage in refiner, rinse off, massage in replenisher) and my skin feels SO good afterwards. I use this 2-3 times a week as directed on the bottles. The third compartment is make up (and my eye make up remover because it fit better). I still want to get my custom compact and other products but for now I have my foundation, eye primer, mascara, lipstick & lip gloss. I have another order coming with lip & eye liner, age defying lip primer. The bottom compartment has my body skin care products. I have my 2 in 1 wash & shave, and my travel sized cellu-shape contouring system. This nifty organizer doesn't have to hang, the hook snaps down in place & the whole thing rolls up into itself. Plus, each compartment is attached with velcro so you can take just one piece with you or pull parts of it off as you go through your morning routine. Now here's the shameless plug part ;) if you are interested in these or any other Mary Kay products you can check out my website. There you will find great products, make up tips & fun quizzes. And of course for more talk click the TAT button above.

Current Events

I realized I haven't had a 'normal' post in about a week or so - by normal I mean a post that isn't about a contest or a meme of some sort. I'll share what we've been up to with photos.

I can't remember if I mentioned this or not but my son is now bald. Last weekend I decided to finally cut his hair because it was just way too long and bugging me. I've done pretty well with the clippers in the past but they weren't working this time. So I attempted with scissors. I know, what was I thinking right? I tried to fix it but there was no hope. It was crooked in every way it could be. So I said "That's it! We're shaving it off!", which was the same thing hubby said when he first saw the haircut. It was accurate, I wasn't offended. Above you can see hubby shaving our little boys head. He's now sporting the screaming eagle as they call it around here. And yes those are animal crackers {cookies} for comfort. He didn't like the process but seems to like his new do. Shawn shaved his own head the same day - I still need to get a picture of the two of them together. Scrap page titles I'm thinking of "Haircut Gone Bad", "Don't Run With Scissors - unless you are taking them from mom" and "Cookies Make it All Better"

Last week we also went to a playgroup that meets nearby. There were lots of kids ranging in age from just weeks to 5 years old. Michael had a lot of fun running around playing with other kids and Lydia seemed to enjoy herself as well. I just realized that photo looks like she's scared or crying but I swear she was happy - darn digital camera delay.

What? brownie batter isn't a good, healthy, well rounded breakfast? Oops! Just kidding - sorta. I made brownies for a potluck after church this past Sunday. They were tasty! It was from a box, can't go wrong there. I got away with making the first batch without Michael realizing what I was doing but he got a hold of the spatula the second time around. Yes, I did lick the other spoon and possibly the bowl. Don't worry, we had our normal healthy-ish breakfast of cold cereal. I'm thinking of having some now actually.

Lydia & Shawn have bonded so well over these past few months. It just warms my heart. I was a little concerned with him being gone the first two months and then not around full time until she was almost 5 months old. While holding her he'll ask for kisses and she leans forward and plants a raspberry on him. It is SO cute. I've got lots of kissy face pictures of the two of them. She also follows him around like a puppy when he's got food. And she gives him the sweetest smiles. She smiles at me but she does this coy little 'flirty' face for daddy that almost makes me want to cry just thinking about it. Sappy, I know but I don't care.

And this is my new car! Isn't it pretty? It's a Mary Kay *pink* Cadillac Escalade - fully loaded. Yeah baby! Did you believe me? Well, it's not my car - not yet anyway. A National Sales Director in this area picked up her new toy today and a bunch of us met her there to hoot & holler and take pictures. I'm not the only one who posed in front of or behind the wheel of the car either. Michael seemed pretty excited about it as well and tried to get into the pictures with me. Seriously though, I am working toward a Mary Kay car - you don't get the pink caddy right away but the rest of the car options are nice too and so is the cash option that I'd take to pay off my own car. If you are interested in learning more about Mary Kay products or business you can take a visit to my Mary Kay website for more info.

♥

Smart Habit Saturday {week 3 August}

It's that time of week again. Time for me to tell you what a SMARTy or a slacker I've been. This week I had a few slacky days and some slacky habits. So here's the breakdown from my handy dandy Joe's Goals tracking sheet. Drinking water, quick pick up & calling Mary Kay hot lines I did each day, clearing the dishes & quick clean kitchen I did 5/7, brushing teeth & washing face 4/7, following schedule 3/7, organizing small space, dinner ready and reading only 2 days.

Some of you asked last week what I would be reading. At the time I wrote it I hadn't decided. I've got a lot of unread books on my shelf. The two days I did read I read Dare to Discipline by Dr. James Dobson. I enjoyed reading and as I predicted once I started I was reading for about 30 minutes rather than just 10. But then Monday came and I didn't pick up a book again all week. Another book I plan to read {again} is The Captain's Choice by {my friend} H.R. Peters. I have read this one but it was before it went to publishing so I want to read it again before the sequel comes out. It's really a great book & if you like the Little Women type stories/movies you'll LOVE this.

This week my new habit is another one that focuses on helping my Mary Kay business grow and achieve my goals. Have I told you that you can earn a free car or the cash equivalent to pay for your own car? That's what I'm going for. I'll keep my own car until I earn the pink Cadillac Escalade! So my new habit is to invite 5 people a week to be my guest at the weekly meetings. I'll track this each Sunday because the meetings are on Mondays. Mary Kay had the 3 foot rule and it's something like this: Everyone within three feet of you is a possible customer, recruit or friend that you just haven't met yet. I'm not going to build my business or develop friendships without talking to people - duh!

Click on the *new* banner above to see what other SMARTy pants are up to & get inspired to start your own habits.

♥

Back to Blogging

With all the SMARTness, showing of my Masterpieces and informing you all about really important information I haven't really been talking much about my actual life outside of the great blogosphere we type in. So here's a list of things that have been going on lately that may or may not interest you.

* I took some pictures of Lydia on her 9 month day, they turned out really cute and I'm excited about that because that means I don't need to take her into a studio where the pictures may or may not come out well, over pay for prints & be manipulated into purchasing the extras they printed 'just in case I changed my mind' and if I don't they'll be burned & who am I to allow such a thing? Isn't that sweet of them to think of my memories {read: their cash register}.
* I still need to take pictures of Michael for his 3 year old photos but am delaying because he hasn't been in such a picture taking mood yesterday and the popsicles are gone so I have nothing left to bribe him with.
* My husband found out that one of his good friends from basic & ait training died in Iraq when the Humvee he was in was hit with an IED. He knew two other people in the same vehicle, one made it out safely and the other was hit with shrapnel. I'm nervous, reality of what he's facing is hitting home and I'm getting scared.
* I was going to go to my first Mary Kay meeting last night but got confused & thought I was lost and by the time I figured out what I did I was too late. I really don't like showing up late so I'll give it another shot next week.
* We have a neighborhood national night out fair of sorts with a {surprise!} cowboy theme tonight. It should be fun, games & fun for the kids and a chance to meet more people.
* We lived for a day without an air conditioner & we were all miserable. Can't remember if I shared that or not. Now it occasionally goes out but we know how to fix it so it's not so bad.
* I spent Sunday trying to cook, do laundry & watch some TV not knowing if my power was going to shut off & how long for. I think the power went off about 10-12 times, no exaggeration. Usually it was for short bits but still - annoying. Luckily no laundry or dinner was harmed in the process.
* I put Lydia's hair in a little pebbles style pony tail on Sunday and it stayed in fairly well. The next day Shawn was inspired by the mo hawk look it left that he gave her a real mo hawk. Cute huh? We tried to give Michael one too but it just wasn't working with his longer hair.
* I think I remembered what I wanted to share. If not there's always another post tomorrow!

Thanks for visiting.

♥

Smart Habit Saturday {week 4 July}

Wow, so I think this is my fourth or more {?} SHS of being more of Slacker than a SMARTy Pants. I blame it on my hormones. My not so friendly visitor came this week, though I'm glad that she did since she was really late - like over 2 weeks late! - and I just don't want another baby right now. That would leave me preggy and soon have three kids under the age of three all while hubby is overseas - no thank you! If I were to get pregnant I of course would be happy & excited, after the initial shock and fear wore off, but since I'm not I can be glad for it. So this whole schedule thing is tough to iron out the wrinkles, I didn't look at it or try to follow it as much this week as I should have. But I did make my phone calls to the MK hot line so I'm doing something consistently. Oh and I took a little time this week to do some scrapping too! This entry will be short because I have a party at 2 and I need to get the house in order, myself ready and try to get some laundry done. w00t! I'm really getting excited about this and am hoping for more customers and parties. I hope you all had a better week than I and a good week to come. I likely won't be visiting everyone {I try to each week} until later today but I will see you.

Check out The Lazy Organizer to see more info about SMARTy Pants & join in on the fun or come back if it's been a while! Lara's computer has been down for a few days so no Mr. Linky to sign or post from her but you can look back on old SHS or browse her blog for great organizing tips!

What I've Been Up To

So it's been a few days since I posted and as much as I love seeing my scrappy pages it's time to get something new on here. Yesterday I had my Mary Kay party. I had two people show up and it was a lot of fun. I got some great practice on my presentation, got to know two more people and they both sounded interested in hostessing a party in the future. As a bonus my house was so clean! I've got another appointment set for Saturday so I'm excited. Another thing that I'm excited about is the HUGE ENORMOUS NOT SMALL AT ALL dog days of summer bloggy giveaway hosted by Rocks In My Dryer. Click on the cute button with the dog wearing the glasses to check it out. There are 448 people giving stuff away on their blogs, by the time I'm done writing this it will likely be closer to 600 as this is spreading like wildfire throughout the internet. It is just amazing. I haven't made it through them all - though I'm hoping by the time it's over I'll have entered all of the ones I'm interested in. There is something for everybody! Some things that I've seen range from home made items like bows, hair clips, gift tags, bags, totes, hats, blankets, jewelry and more that I can't remember right now. There were books of all kinds, cookbooks, inspiring books, fiction, non-fiction, marriage, pregnancy, children, etc. There were also a lot of pampering type items, lotions, body sprays, candles, bubble bath and other bath products. My favorite among the items of course are the scrappy ones. People are giving away how to books, kits, embellishments, papers and all kinds of fun stuff. Oh and there were also a lot of coffee & chocolate giveaways too. I was intrigued by a few giveaways that had mystery boxes or surprise gifts. Some blogs that I want to make note of are this one that's giving away a variety of items, this one giving away scrappy stuff, this one giving away a book & looks like a fun blog, this one giving away books & hinting to a big announcement, this one giving away scrappy stuff from her business, and this fun blog that is giving away a Scrapbooks etc Techniques Idea Book. Whew, that was a mouthful! Well I just about got that done before the kids got up from naps. Now I must go so I can get a few things done around here and start preparing for my party on Saturday. Plus Michael's room is still a MESS! I need to take some before photos so you'll understand why I will likely end up getting rid of half the toys in his room. I'm in need of a new organization plan in there and I think purging is the first step. More posts on that later. Thanks for stopping by!

Smart Habit Saturday {week 4 July}

My Joe's Goals reflects a slow going roller coaster with a big climb at the end. I didn't have such a productive week. With Shawn having a lot of half days and trying to catch up from my mother in law visiting I've had trouble trying to follow my schedule. I did do pretty well at clearing the dishes at night, enjoying my time & drinking more water but everything else went down the tubes. This week I'm going to focus on that again & see where I need to make adjustments. I also want to start a new habit. I know, I know - I should get the others back in order first but it's been so long since I've added one and this is a small one so it's okay.

I'm an Independent Beauty Consultant for Mary Kay Cosmetics. There are two hot line numbers that I should be calling for information, encouragement & motivation. One is updated weekly & the other M, W, & F. So my new habit is to call my MK hot lines - 4 times a week. I think it will help me in getting my business started. If anyone is interested in seeing what products we offer you can check out my website, there's a lot of new fun stuff. Monday I'm hosting my first party and have invited my neighbors so wish me luck! I really want to be successful at this. I ♥ being a stay at home mom and my husband provides well for us but having a little extra money and feeling a sense of accomplishment outside of having clean floors would be nice. Maybe if I do well enough I can get me a fancy site and better yet - some new scrappy stuff.

Anyway, click on the photo to see more SMARTy pants & learn more about SHS here. If you haven't joined in on the SMARTness what are you waiting for? Just think of all the great habits you could be starting, or bad ones you could be breaking. Thanks for stopping by!