Lisa
Thankful Thursday #2
Just when you think there are no honest companies in the world anymore, something happened this week that made me reconsider my view. Back in March while on a road trip to visit our son in college, we rented a vehicle (long story about why we had to rent a vehicle, that’s a whole new post at some point) from Enterprise in a small town about 2 hours from our home. The people there were very nice and took very good care of us. The trip was great, we visited with our son, we get the vehicle back to Enterprise, we get back home and my 11 year old daughter realizes she left her mint condition Nintendo DS in the back of the vehicle. We call immediately the next business day to only find out the vehicle had been shipped to another location. The young lady I spoke with promised to help me and if she would find the game system she would contact us. My husband and I and I both knew we were not going to get another call. Weeks passed, no call, a month passed, no call. This is now the sixth week and my husband gets a call on Monday from the young lady at Enterprise who said they found our daughter’s Nintendo DS and she would over-night it to us. We received it Tuesday, in perfect condition. Wow, this blew me away – what awesome customer service that was!
In reality, I could write post after post about people and things I am thankful for. Being thankful is something I do not take for granted.
Thankful ~ Lisa
The Aspiring Green Thumb
As a kid, I loved helping my dad in the garden and watching plants and veggies start from seeds into something so beautiful and delicious. I always wanted a garden of my own, however since the lot we built our home on is just not big enough to have all the things I wanted, I had to compromise. My husband found a large planter box called a Veggie Trug that we placed on the side of our home where we get the most sun. The family goal is to grow things we will eat, so if you have kids, you know what type of conversation that was. After several long, drawn-out family conversations we finally came to a consensus (it really wasn’t, but for sake of keeping this post short, let’s go with that) to plant onions, broccoli, spinach, lettuce, carrots and tomatos. We planted the carrots, spiniach and lettuce from seed and the rest from plants. We are so excited and looking forward to eating our crops soon!
This is our second season planting a garden and I’ve discovered you don’t need a lot of space to do it. Grow things you will eat and enjoy and get to planting!
Lisa ~ Aspiring Green Thumb
Thankful Thursday #1
I’ve designated my Thursday posts to write about something I’m thankful for. It may be big or small, doesn’t matter – I’m still thankful.
As you can see by the picture, I’m thankful for my microwave this Thursday. Our family was without our microwave for two long weeks. For a busy family like ours, this baby comes in handy and two weeks felt like two months! The magnetron (what produces the radiation, if this goes out, you can’t heat your food) was not working. The funny part of this is for several days, non of us said anything to each other about our food not getting hot! We all individually thought we were crazy or that we forgot to hit a button. One day while baking, I had to soften a stick of butter and that’s when I discovered I wasn’t crazy, this microwave is totally broken! I just knew I could live without a microwave in my life for two weeks…what’s the big deal…right? My mom did it and so did my grandmother, yeah…NO. I did get through, but it wasn’t easy. I had to heat things in the stove or in the oven every time and that was a huge pain. You never realize how much you depend on something until that something is no longer dependable.
Well long story short, it’s fixed and I’m very thankful!
Lisa
It’s About Time…Home Management System
Running a full time business, working full time (I know you’re asking how is that possible, I ask the same thing), being a wife, a mom of four, a nanna of one, running a household and volunteering at my church, I am constantly doing something. My days can sometimes be a blur, from running kids to dance practice, guitar lessons and going to track meets. Having a time management system in place is a must for my life.
One of my new year’s goals was to become a better manager of my time. I was always looking for a way to keep everything I need to run my home and my time smoothly. I tried several ways to maintain my home/time; from apps to calendars on the refrigerator, they worked temporarily. I needed something that worked the way I naturally worked. Looking at many YouTube videos, I came across several that spoke of a home management binder – YES…this is what I needed! So I took pointers from many great youtubers and came up with my own version that has been a great help to me and my family. Creating my home management planner has helped me keep track of all my daily todos, meals, expenses and even projects. I love it, love it, love it!
Below I list each tab and discuss how I use each category to make my life easier.
I chose a 1″ binder from the Martha Stewart home office with Avery collection in the color Shagreen.
I used these colorful tabs as page markers and the sticky sheets I use to jot down small notes that I may add to my calendar. The great thing about them is they are removable and reuseable.
I keep everything that pertains to my families time under the calendar tab. I use the calendar for appointments, events, etc. It also has a place to track my tasks for the day, which I check off as I complete them.
The notes area is used to jot down thoughts and information that don’t go on the calendar. I like being able to write down things that I will need to refer back to later.
I try to cook a meal for my family every night and here is where I write down my plan for the week. My normal routine is to go through my recipes on Saturday and gather a list of meals I will cook for the upcoming week. While creating this list of meals, I am double checking my calendar to make sure I will be available to make the meals I’ve scheduled for that day. I would not schedule try to prepare chicken francese when I only have time to prepare tuna fish and chips : )
We have two vehicles and I use the auto tab to keep up with everything regarding those vehicles such as tire rotations, oil changes, maintenance appointments, etc. My husband really appreciates this tab since he is the one who handles this for our family.
Inside this tab houses my grocery shopping lists. After I complete my weekly meal selections, I check the pantry and are being planning out my list for the items I need to purchase.
I keep track of our household expenses from this tab. I use spread sheets to schedule what bills are due, even upcoming vacations we will save for.
Having one place we can go to locate computer logins has been such a life saver. The logins kept here are for systems that we all use. I do not include our financial institution logins here, those are kept in a separate place.
The projects and ideas tab is the go to place for paint swatch colors, room dimensions and any ideas for upcoming home improvements.
When it’s time to send gifts, I wanted to make the process easier for me so I created the gifting tab. Here, I keep a list of gift ideas and gifts given to my family and friends. As I see things throughout the year or when someone says what they would like, I jot them here.
My miscellaneous tab stores the below items…
Gift cards, notecards, postage and mailing labels are kept in the back of my binder inside plastic pockets.
The last tab is for contacts. This tab houses frequently used phone numbers of family, friends and companies. Remembering phone numbers has never been my strength, so having this on hand has been a great help.
Well, that’s it!
I love managing my home using my management binder. By using this system, I have learned to be deliberate in keeping my home in order. I hope you can use this information and create your own.
Have a SUPER Day!
Lisa
Welcome To The Adventures of an Aspiring Superwoman!
Welcome to my new blog and thanks for stopping by! Aspiringsuperwoman.com has been a long time coming and I am super excited to be able to share my journey with you. I’m looking forward to sharing my takes on topics such as decorating, cooking, organizing, running a successful business and so many more fun things. So come along with me as I show you how being an aspiring superwoman…is a great adventure!
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