Organizing!

I've been busy with organizing, organizing and more organizing! I think about it all day and dream about it at night. I guess this is what happens when you start your own business. Since this blog is still receiving daily hits, I thought I'd update you on how my business is going.

Lasting Order launched in June and I've officially surpassed 100 hands-on client hours (not counting consultations). Considering I've got to do 1500 hours to become a Certified Professional Organizer, I've got a long road ahead!! The business started with a boom - much faster than I anticipated... but there have been some slow weeks also. Things are picking back up, so I'm  a happy lady. :)

I love hands-on organizing. I love the feeling that I get when I've helped someone experience freedom from clutter. It's addictive. I want to help as many people as possible! One realization that I've come to is that most regular folks think they cannot afford a professional organizer. I think that they can't NOT afford one - so many people are letting their lives go to waste with unfulfilled good intentions. Their minds and homes are filled with so much clutter that nothing is being accomplished. You only have one life! Don't waste it!

In order to introduce my services to more people, I've partnered with a company called Clever Container. It's the first DSA (Direct Sales Association) company to exclusively offer organizing products. Hostesses invite me to do a free organizing workshop in their home, which allows me to show people how I work and explain what a PO does. This should be a great way to reach the regular folks like you & me - and show them how much I can help them! Even if they choose not to use my organizing services, I've helped them get more organized with the workshop information and awesome products for every area of their home & life. My biz and Clever Container are very complimentary - a perfect match!

Anyway, I love that I can be so personal on this blog, because the biz blog has to be so business-like! :) Sometimes I need to express my feelings too. lol

There is something so wonderful about knowing that you are doing exactly what God has called you to do. It definitely is not easy. There are many difficult decisions and so many paths I could take. But, knowing that God has ordained my steps and won't leave me stranded makes it all worthwhile. I'm certainly not getting rich, but I feel like I'm living the American dream!

New Business Blog

I have a dream. I have had a dream for many {about 6} years. I've piddled around with my dream - reading, researching and practicing... but I think I'm finally ready to act on it. I dream of being a Professional Organizer. I'm soft launching my business and working toward growing it into a "real" business. :)

Check out my professional website/blog: www.lastingorder.net

Please let me know what you think!

Blog? What blog?

I haven't forgotten that I have a blog, but blogging has not been of the utmost importance lately. At this point, I have so many things I could blog about that it would take too long to "catch up" so I'm not going to even try. I may continue to post now & again or maybe I won't... I'll see ya when I see ya. :)

How I spent my weekend...

Goodbye ugly wallpaper borders...

Since we moved June 2009, I've been painting and re-doing each room as I have the time, money & energy. Silly me... I've been itching to finish the final 2 rooms so badly that I spent the rest of my Christmas money on the boys' bathroom. Seriously... the BOYS bathroom - which I never go into. Both the boys' bath and the kitchen had these ugly grandma-ish borders that just HAD to come down. Since I was fixing the boys bath and had my steamer handy, I decided to just remove the kitchen border also.

I'm not sure what got into me!

  

 Here's the kitchen before & after border removal...

I picked the kitchen color and think that I've found what I want to hang on the biggest empty wall... but that will have to wait until I come into some more cash since I just spent it all on the boys bathroom.

Goodbye ugly grandma mirror doors on the bathroom cabinet...

 Before & after...
BEFORE: boring cream colored walls, grandma flowered border mixed with rubber ducks and baby photos
AFTER: forest green paint with a camping/outdoor theme

 VERY appropriate sign for the boys' bathroom... :)

I'm pretty happy with how the bathroom turned out. Once the paint dries thoroughly, I've got to move the shower curtain up. (and I need to return the light switch cover too - I bought a one switch cover instead of two. oops!) I'm picking photos from our family outdoor adventures to go into the collage frames to finish off the look. So exciting!!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Reflections on 2010

Wow. I cannot believe the year is almost over and I have yet to reach my goal of "catching up" on my blog. This has been a very introverted year for me... probably why my blog has been so neglected. I struggled with writing our annual Christmas letter this year. In so many ways, 2010 was really crappy. It would make for a really depressing country song. lol How can you write an upbeat Christmas letter, yet be honest about life at the same time? I hope I achieved my goal... if you received our letter, you'll have to let me know!

When I re-read some of my latest posts (from Oct/Nov), I can hardly recognize myself. This is a good thing. A VERY good thing. I have been pain-free for what seems like forever now (truly since mid-November). My medications are working properly and I've had no side effects (other than being illness prone). The details of the joint pain have faded from my memory, but the impact of the disease on my whole self (mental, physical, spiritual) has not. I am enjoying my less hectic life. It was forced upon me, but I embrace it. My commitments are few. My energy is still not 100%, but I am learning balance and how to live life without overdoing it.

I feel as if I'm in a very weird place in life. We've lived in this locale for 2 1/2 years now (can't believe it has been that long!), which is half as long as we lived in the Dallas area. Our relationships are nowhere as deep or meaningful here. We are still struggling to "fit in". We have had a lot of upheaval with our church home this past year and are searching once again for the path God wants to lead us on and the "home" to embrace.

Disconnect is the word that I most associate with right now. I've been disconnected from a church home/family, disconnected from volunteering in organizations that I care about, disconnected from others in many ways. Part of me is very happy with the depth of relationship that occurs between myself and my immediate family when we are disconnected, but the rest of me longs for the intimacy of relationships with others. I'm hoping 2011 will be a year of connection. My desire is to put down deep roots here to provide stability for my children... but right now, my instinct is to run away or flee back to our comfort zones - either closer to family or back to Dallas. To a place where people know me and love me for who I am. Once in a while, I see the glimmer of a potential friendship and that tides me over for awhile. I'm pretty sure it is called hope. Life has bogged me down. I hope that 2011 will unbog me. Only through God's grace. I certainly don't deserve it.

Crazy days Update

First of all, I want to start with this... an update on Matt Chandler. I don't recall if I've mentioned him on the blog or not. He is a pastor where I used to live and his daughter attended the preschool where I worked. So, I have a slight personal connection to the family and have been following his story very closely. You can read his story via the link below. I have been awed and inspired by the way he has handled suffering. In the beginning, I spent many days praying that if I were put in that situation that I would handle it with as much grace and faith as Matt has. I have experienced a fair amount of suffering this year (nothing in comparison to brain cancer) and I feel like still I have a lot to learn about grace and faith. I hope this inspires you...

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2010/11/01/one-year-later-an-interview-with-matt-chandler/

Secondly, my mother-in-law did have a brain aneurysm and brain surgery to fix it. The surgeon said that if she did not have surgery, within days the aneurysm would have blown and she would have died. She is alive and well and went home from the hospital on Halloween (Merely 2 weeks and 2 days after her surgery) - PRAISE GOD! She had absolutely NO symptoms of stroke and no complications - PRAISE GOD! Please continue to pray that she would recover quickly. Her main issue (aside from a nasty scar) is that she was virtually immobile for two whole weeks, so she is very weak and tired. Things could have been SO much worse and we are so grateful.

How is it going with Rheumatoid Arthritis? Better. I have now started all three of my medications and have had no side effects so far - PRAISE GOD! My daily symptoms have been reduced - my joints are working better, though I'm physically exhausted a lot. At least one of the drugs is an immune suppressant and I came down with a pretty nasty cold this weekend. I have started doing a lot of research on RA and treatments, especially non-medicinal - just to see what is out there. I've decided that sometimes ignorance is bliss and that research is very depressing. I've found message boards of "support", but all I find there are people who list every symptom that is bothering them that day and the difficulties they are having. I know how miserable it is to suffer with chronic pain, but I don't want to spend all day reading about other people's pain too. There is a tough balance between getting the support you need and detailing your troubles to others.

I'm amazed at how life can be strolling along... flowing smoothly... and in one instant or one day - things change. For Matt Chandler, that one day was last Thanksgiving. For my mother-in-law, that one day was October 13. For me, that one day was May 23. It catches you by surprise. You weren't expecting this. But, God has a plan. He is not surprised. He knows when your day is. You may even have several days. He is the same God before that day, during that day and after that day.