The holidays are over, which seemed to have flown by.  Now February is officially here and I’m still dreaming of all the great memories my family and I made with our family and close friends.  As always, I am always so very thankful, not just for the things but for the reason we celebrate (JESUS) and for the people I love and the blessings I’ve received. My husband and I decided to exchange gifts (last year we only exchanged stocking stuffers which was soooo much fun!) and boy I’m happy we did! I’ve had over a month to enjoy all the amazing gifts I received. Below are a few of my favorites that I think you would love.

Cultivate What Matters

I discovered this amazing planner early last year while looking for tools that could help me goal plan. This planner allows you to plan your life intentionally.  I love the ability to have a community and resources that come along with your purchase.

The planner alone comes in at $58, but there are also bundles like the one pictured starting at $90. www.cultivatewhatmatter.com

She Reads Truth

One of the most beautiful Bibles I’ve ever owned!  The Bible is jammed packed with 66 key verses and the artwork is so beautiful. Also reading plans for each book, along with maps, charts, and timelines. Below is the hardbound version in grey linen, which cost $38, however, they come in leather and other colors in the hardbound version. www.shereadstruth.com

Being a business owner, this new toy has transformed my creative abilities and added another layer of products I can now offer my clients. The Cricut Maker allows you to cut any type of fabric, even leather! The starting cost for the machine alone is $399, however, you can buy bundles accessory packs (which is great for beginners). www.cricut.com

Cricut Maker

•  Living an organized life
• Making my house a home
• Becoming a better friend
• Working hard
• Playing hard
• Writing thank you notes instead of emails
• Calling instead of texting
• Giving more
• Encouraging others more
• Using photo albums and not my cell phone
• Cooking more eating out less
• Being healthy
• Having more date nights with my hubby
• Using the kitchen table more than the TV tray
• Drawing even closer to Jesus

Happy 2014!

I have been a mom for more than half of my life (yikes!!). It’s the hardest yet most rewardng position I have ever held…EVER!  I sit back in pure amazment to know I’m responsible for 4 lives – bringing them into this world, raising them up to be good, loving, responisble people, teaching, correcting and guiding them.  I stand in awe every time I think about it. Below are five reasons why being a mom is worth every bit of blood, sweet and tears.

1. Giving birth

After having my first child, I said I would never go through pain like that ever again, then 5 years later I did it again, and again, and again.  There is something about the experience – it’s the weirdest, most painful yet most awesome feeling I have ever had. Seeing my baby for the first time and putting a face with all the kicks, late nigh hiccups that kept me awake and source of my streatch marks cannot be compared to anything.

2.Watching my children grow

I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, “don’t blink or you’ll miss it”…well that definately can be the saying for watching my children grow up. Did you know that a child grows more in the first 12 months than at any other time in their life? I have witnessed this beautiful process 4 times and I’m  never tired of seeing it.  All the firsts, from the first steps, first words, first day at school, and even the first attitude (yes, even those). It all happens so fast.

3. Being able to speak into their lives

When we took my first son to college, at the parent orientation they wanted to know what kind of parent we though we were.  I discovered that I was an attachment parent with tendecies of helicopter parent.  To break that down for you, I have a close bond with my children, I believe that having this close bond produces trust and well-rounded children.  With that being said, I found out that having that close bond with my children, I have a harder time letting them make decisions on their own.  I may be a tid-bit guilty of that but I’m working on it : ).

4. Witnessing their uniqueness

Each of my children are unique and special in their own way.  I try daily to design my parenting to suit the needs of each one of my children since non of them are alike in any way.  The fun part is looking at the differences and seeing different parts of myself in each one of them (how cool is that!).

5. Having unconditional love

I never knew I could love anyone the way I love my children.  The bond that is formed even while I was pregnant is unimaginable.  I remember when my daughter gave birth to our granddaughter, she told me that she never understood that type of love until that very moment.  Being able to show them love in many different ways is what I live for.

There’s nothing like getting a hand-made gift from someone you love.  I cherish the thought that you thought enough of me to take time out of your day to make me something special and unique.  Maybe it’s because I create hand-made gifts for a living, but I’m so thankful when I receive one.

When the kids were younger, I would get a big kick out of teaching and helping them to make gifts for our family and friends and even their friends.  We would make plaster hand-prints for grandparents day or a beaded necklace for a classmate, or at Christmas (which is my favorite time of the year) making ornaments for the tree.  I just recently used a homemade sugar scrub my daughter made for me while at vacation bible school,  it brought a huge smile to my face. I not only love hand-made gifts but cards too. A handmade card says more than any store bought card you could ever purchase.  My oldest daughter loves doing this and making me cry big crocodile tears with her beautiful words.

I started The Personal Gift Basket Company over eleven years ago, after giving birth to our last daughter.  Creating unique gifts and gift wrapping has always been a passion of mine and I wanted a way to turn that into a profitable business, so I did. On top of owning my own business, I also work for a major financial firm (for over 15 years). I  absolutely love my job, however the goal was to start my gift basket company a year after my daughter was born, then give myself another year to leave my “full time” job.

The plan looked great on paper, however while in the middle of my third trimester, my husband’s company went through a reorganization, and he lost his job in the process. He was out of work for almost one year!  Those were some very stressful, yet prayerful times for our family but we made it through (thank you Lord).

I continued to work my full-time job and also build my business.  My job has wonderful benefits and great investing plans, so we were covered even while my husband was unemployed. Shortly after my husband found a job, my company began to produce profits which also helped us stay afloat.  With my husband finding a job, it gave me the opportunity to quit my job…but I didn’t.  I’m still working them both and I’m loving it.

Being the type A personality that I am, I have a good plan in place that allows me to work them both (and still keep all my hair).  My full-time job has allowed me to work from home for almost three years.  To make sure everything gets done, I have structured my time to work (honestly) for my full-time job and run my business when needed.  My summer schedule – while the kids are out of school looks like this (on most days):

6:00 am-7:15(20ish) am – Work gift basket business – Answering and sending emails, completing gifts to be shipped and online marketing, getting mail ready for pickup.

7:30 am – Start full-time job work

10:30 am – Take break – answer any calls that came in for my company, check emails

10:40 am – Back to work

11:30 am – Lunch break – make any needed calls for my company, make lunch for my kids and myself

12:00 pm – Back to work

2:30 pm – Take break – Check new orders and get products out and ready to create, or answer emails check voicemail

2:45 pm – Back to work

4:00 pm –  Off work

After 4 pm – Create gifts, Deliver local gifts (to residences) and ship gifts outside of local area.

Everyday is not run, run, run and when needed my husband and kids help me run the business and we hire temporary help. Most days, I’m not overwhelmed with things to do, however there are days that I can’t see straight.

On one hand, I love everything that comes with working for myself, but on the other hand, I love the security of my paycheck and benefits every other week too. At some point I will give up my full-time job, but for now it’s working.

This will be the first year our 11 year old daughter will attend summer camp.  The camp is for one week and I think I’m more nervous than she is, but I’m confident she’ll be just fine.  The camp sent a list of items to include in her luggage, however I wanted to do something a little extra special for her, since this is her first time being away from home.  I created a camp survival kit filled with some of her favorite things and a few new ones.

The survival kit includes:

• Book light
• A few of her favorite snacks
• Letter from mom & dad
• Camps Daze Mad Lib Book
• Camp Bunk Box of Questions
• Camp Journal & Autograph Book
• Colored pens & pencils
• Favorite lip balm
• A picture of our whole gang

I packed the items in a cardboard box and will have it delivered to her on the second day of camp.  I know she’ll love it!

I have a few things that take me there (where ever “there” is). My “there” isn’t me pulling my hair out or yelling at someone, I just begin to feel that little vain in my temple start to pulsate a little and maybe…a twitch, but that’s it.

1. An unmade bed – I love getting into a made bed, it’s just something about it.  I feel I sleep better when my bed is made (it could be all mental).

2. A dirty or unorganized kitchen – I can’t function in a dirty or unorganized kitchen. I like knowing where things are and not having to worry about them needing to be washed when I’m trying to cook.

3. Uncontrollable kids – It’s really the parents of the uncontrollable kids I have the issue with. You know…the kid that acts out, like they have no home training – yeah that one.  And the only thing the parent says is “you stop that little Jimmy or little Suzy” and the child acts as though nothing has been said.

4. A liar – TELL THE TRUTH!!  If you tell the truth, you don’t have to try to remember what you said before. It’s very hard to believe the words that come out of the mouth of a person who’s known to lie.

5. A “One-Upper” – This person cannot let you have your moment without you knowing what they have done. They have to have one up on you.

6. Smacking while eating or eating with your mouth open – I don’t really have to say too much about that, it’s just gross.

7. A bragger – This person (unlike the one-upper) doesn’t need to hear what you’ve done, oh no!  The bragger makes sure you know who they’re wearing (and it’s not from last year’s collection), what fancy restaurant they had dinner at (and of course what they ate), what car their driving (year, and model will also be included somewhere in the conversion), and so on.

8. Cleaning around things – Pick up the object clean under it and put the object back down, that’s it.  Dust bunnies do not need a roof over their head.

9. Left up toilet seat – If you are married or have raise boys, you know what I’m talking about.  Nothings funny about falling into the toilet water at 2 in the morning when you don’t realize the seats up.

10. Dirty butter – I don’t like opening up my butter container and seeing what someone ate for breakfast, lunch and dinner

Technology has come a long way.  I remember my first cell phone called the bag phone, this thing gave me an arm workout whenever I used it.  Today, you don’t have to worry about getting an arm workout, but you can go into to app overload from all the things phones can do today. I love the freedom to accomplish things I would normally do on my home computer, now it’s all at my fingertips.  I can organize and maintain coupons, keep up with my business travel mileage, create shopping lists, plan breakfast, lunch and dinner, check balances in my accounts, transfer money to my kids or other accounts, pay bills, track exercise and eating habits – that’s my whole day!  I used to be one of those people that would look at someone with their nose in their phone and wonder what they could possibly be doing…now I know.

Below are my top 10 apps I use on my iphone.

1. Groupon – I can search, purchase and even redeem my coupons right from my phone.

2. Car Insurance App – In the event of an accident, my insurance company’s app helps me through the process of collecting information, taking photographs of the accident and requesting towing service.  On top of that, I can get information on discounts hotels, car rentals and restruants who offer discounts for my insurance.  Roadside assistance is also a breeze with this app.

3. PayPal Here – Owning a business, I have to be ready. PayPal Here is a great, convenient way to accept credit cards on where ever I am.  Just swipe and sign.

4. Walgreens – I can upload pictures directly to the site, I can refill my prescriptions and also track my rewards.

5. My Fitness Pal – I track my daily food and exercise, I can also track my weight goals. I can even share them with my accountability partners.

6. Run Keeper – This GPS based app  keeps track of my walking or running, works well when I’m entering my exercise data in my My Fitness Pal app.

7. Food Network, In The Kitchen – I LOVE this app.  I can store recipes I find on the site in my Recipe Box and create shopping lists.  A great feature for me is each recipe is broken down to let you know the total time it takes to make the recipe.  It breaks it down cook time and prep time.

8. Bank App – Most banks have apps now, and I love the convenience of being able to see balances, alerts and transfer funds.

9. Period Tracker – Okay ladies, I know this might be one of those TMI type things, but I love this app.  I’m the one who goes into the gynecologist office and can never remember when my last period was.  This app makes that problem non-existent.

10. Bible Gateway – Reading my Bible daily is very important to me, however sometimes my days don’t allow me to get the good book out and read during my quite time.  I can pull this app up anywhere and read my verses of the day and also create a study plan.

I enjoy cooking for my family, and one thing I like more than cooking, is being prepared to cook.  I love getting in the kitchen and having everything I need, ready to go.  Below is 5 things I do that help me stay happy in the kitchen.

1. Prewash lettuce – We recently stated eating more salads and I wanted to make the process easier.  I wash my lettuce and place in a plastic container lined with paper towels.

2. Prep Veggies – I’m not a master chef, so chop veggies takes me a little more time since I really like having all 10 of my fingers. When I make my list and I know what veggies I will need for the week, I try (this does’t happen all the time) to cut them according to how I will use them in my recipes and store them in separate containers or baggies.  I also buy extra for making my trinity (onions, bell peppers and celery) and I freeze in freezer safe bags.  This comes in handy when make almost any dish.

3. Buy precooked chickens – I purchase the rotisserie chickens from Sam’s for many recipes.  One chicken can yield approximately 4 cups of shredded meat that can be used in tacos, soups and salads.  I normally separate the shredded meat into two cup packages and freeze until needed.

4. Buy fresh (in season) fruits – We make a lot of smoothies, so I purchase fruit like bananas, blueberries, strawberries, peaches and pineapple. I freeze what I need for my smoothies in individual baggies, and the rest we eat.

The best way to freeze strawberries and blueberries is to place them on a cookie sheet – try not to over lap or touch.  Freeze until solid. Once fruit is frozen, transfer into freezer-safe baggies. Frozen fruit can last up to 6 months.

5. Clean as you go – I hate having a sink full of dirty dishes while I’m trying to cook.  Or having no room to prepare foods because my counters are full of stuff I’ve used in my cooking. I make sure I clean as I go.