Rabbit Holes

I've fallen down several rabbit holes lately. As I've said before I'm not good about keeping this blog up to date! So I've decided to blog in chunks.

Today is about current inspirations.

As I said, I'm falling down a particular rabbit hole of traveler's notebooks. I don't currently have one, I don't bullet journal, I just don't journal at all! (lack of blog posts are a sure sign!) But I carried around a planner in the late 80's/90's (I'm old) and they went everywhere with me. I became a techie and I jumped on the Palm Pilot band wagon and transferred my planner stuff to the digital realm.

Eventually Palm was bought up and phased out. I jumped onto the Blackberry, things transferred easily and all was good in the tech world until I worked on my master's. APPLE!!! Oh how I love Thee! It took a few years and I was able to splurge on a laptop and down that rabbit hole I went!

Don't get me wrong, I'm typing on a macbook right now. But I have probably a dozen notebooks in my living room/bookcases. Unused! Used! and I'm just a cheap paper junky. I still love notebooks and planners. But the majority are unused.

I tried to go digital with my lesson planner but just couldn't make it work. I found a great planner by Miss Math Dork and fell in love with paper planners again.   Two years ago I found Blue Sky Planners and that is what I use today. Really use. Nice, simple, very straightforward and I love them.

So how does that get me to traveler's notebooks. 

1) Well, I've also fallen down the fountain pen rabbit hole and use them with my scripture writing. But I wanted to use pens more and I find myself out and about with no paper. I'm trying to become slightly more organized, but not to the point of creating a bullet journal.

2) I need to meal plan. I realized I buy the same basic groceries every week, I don't use part of them and that is wasteful. I've also found myself not cooking at all. I think doing some basic meal planning will help me with diet and the economics of grocery shopping. Keeping those plans in a notebook will help me shop. Yes I can add them to my phone memo list but I think writing things out will help me stay focused.

3) I knit and love making lists of knitting info. I also have knitting friends who use TN's and every time they whip one out to jot stuff down, I get envious. :)

I love notebooks!

I love Goulet Pens and follow them on instagram and YouTube. I use them for my fountain pens obsession. They have fantastic customer education videos. Goulet carries pens and paper. I've watched several of their videos on TN's and thanks to YouTube data miners up popped lots of other TN videos. I've spent the morning watching those and surfing Etsy for the right notebook cover. 

From there Pinterest called my name and away it went. Thankfully, I put on the brakes and decided to add this quick post before I reached the bottom of this rabbit hole. I've figured out the size needed, found a supplier that offered a totally me color and now just waiting a few days to make sure I really need to do this!

ps it will may if I jot down some blog post ideas!

Clean Sweep

Well, not really. But at least it's cleaner. Many years ago I purchased my dining room table and chairs. The house I was renting had a table and chairs that took up all the space in the tiny kitchen. I knew that I wouldn't always be in this house and when a friend saw this table at a yard sale I purchased it. It is a lovely oak table, one pedestal with a leaf that allows it to sit six. I rarely have the leaf in it. But I put the table in the dining room of the rental and I was using the dining room as a sewing room and there it stayed as a catch all and cutting table.

Fast forward to current house and I think I've eaten at the table less than ten times. I'm single and just never formally sit at the table. It has been used as a sewing center and catch all for a long time and has been (still is) a hot mess. I prefer to use it as a study center. Today as I was doing my last scripture writing for 2015, I was in my sewing room using the big office desk that I currently use as a sewing desk. I was sitting there thinking I really need to make space for my computer and my bible things and it hit me that I have a perfectly good table but it was holding everything under the sun.

Boxes of knitting goodies, project bags, cutting mat from the last time I used it as a sewing center, crafting items from last years Christmas presents and Christmas bags and boxes from last Christmas, 2014 not 2015 were covering the table! Yes, as I said it was a hot mess and I am such a clutter queen. I am the one the book Sink Reflections was written for and the Fly Lady is my friend. I haven't been flying in quite some time. To be honest I've never really gotten off the ground. I have the book pulled out to reread it and I know where my home blessing book is located. I just need to put it in place. I'll come back to this in minute.

I realized that the hot mess had to go and really needed the table to function as my study center, my war room! I spent quite some time this morning putting things away and I'm still not completely finished. I still have a few things to put away but I have bibles out and notebooks out and bible study books stacked and ready to use. I'm actually sitting at the table and typing this blog post! It is a great feeling but as I sit here and realize how great it feels to have most of the clutter gone one thing occurs to me, I don't like this table or the uncomfortable chairs!!!! I'm sitting here laughing. The chairs have issues. Three of the six need to have rungs glued back in place and I need to use some cushions or I need to purchase a new table and chairs. I'm leaning towards the new table and chairs, but I'm a very frugal and why spend money when this table works. I'll be shopping for cushions soon.

Back to Fly Lady and my clutter, this isn't a resolution but a fact of life. I've got to get my clutter under control. My house is a mess and I am embarrassed to have anyone over. I am going to reread Sink Reflections and I'm going to work on decluttering. I have great book shelf in the dining area. But in the move five years ago, it lost two shelves. I either need to get two shelves made or ditch this bookshelf and get one that is functional. I have lots and lots of books and this needs to be a working bookcase. I have a lot of bible study books that are currently boxed in the garage because I don't have enough space for them in my house. Again, clutter fills up the area and isn't functional. I want my dining table to be a study center. As I said in an earlier post, I'm ready for my relationship with the Lord to be back in green valleys and that's not going to happen if I'm studying His Word.

My home isn't going to be open for me to have small bible studies or knitting groups over if it isn't decluttered and usable. When I moved in 5 1/2 years ago, that was my dream, using this home God provided as a place of study and fellowship. The dining room table was the tip of the iceberg, but I'm ready to dive in swim around. I'm ready to use this home as I originally intended.

I'm so blessed! Cluttered, but blessed!

LIFE End of the Year Review

I stink as a blogger and a very good friend tells me I criticize myself too much! It really caused me to stop and think about what I say. I realized I'm very vocal about my inadequacies and I need to stop that.

But I'm going to put a few things here to hold myself accountable. First thing I did wrong was trying make myself blog. I had very few posts in 2015. I don't do well making myself to this blog. I did do a really good job of posting my knitting projects in Ravelry and I'm very proud of that. I'm going to let the blog flow naturally and not force it into something it isn't.

I am having a good year at work. That cats and the sister are good! I'm enjoying my fairy granddaughters and the kids are about to add a fairy grandson and another grandaughter to the mix. I'm so thankful I have a dear friend who let me be a part of her children's life and the kiddos love me and still include me in their grown up life. Thus the fairy grandchildren who I treasure. Honestly, it can be hard to be mid life and realize not only am I not having children but I'm not going to enjoy grandchildren and family in my life as I get older. I'm hushing before I get really emotional! :)

I have really enjoyed my church family this year. Last year I joined a life group - thanks to Priscilla Shirer and Beth Moore. I listened to some of their simulcasts and realized I was missing the connectedness of bible study group. I asked one of my media co-volunteers about his life group and was immediately added to his group. Just like family, whoosh, I was apart of their group and doing life with them. This year they've added four babies to the group so we've not met really regular, but we are doing life together, praying for one another and studying the word together, doing meals together. Holding one another accountable and just loving on one another and it's awesome.

The past month I've been doing a scripture writing plan from Sweet Blessings and she just posted a January plan. It was something I saw on facebook and decided to try. I love it! It is truly just a few short verses a day and I've not been really consistent. Life happens, BUT it is truly such a small time commitment that I am totally caught up and really want to stay caught up. There is something about writing the Word that is amazing and I am going to continue. I started a new spiral bound notebook in December and I want it to be filled with my handwriting and His Word throughout the year.

Honesty moment - since my mom died in 2009, I've been in a really odd place with God. Actually, it goes back further to Dad's passing in 2006, but really grounded in deep after 2009. I've worshiped the Lord, studied and prayed but had an overall dry time. I'm not saying it's totally desert, there have been some lush river time and great springs of joy, worship, and prayer. But I'm really tired of the desert and I want to be back in the valleys and on the mountain tops. I want the Holy Spirit to be teaching me, rebuking me, loving me and laughing with me. I want a refreshed relationship. It has been growing for a while and I've had some heart to heart talks and listened the Him. I'm still not sure where He is taking me but I'm ready to hold on for the ride. It feels good.

Today wasn't really about the stitching and was totally about the sentiments. I'm good with that.

Blessings to whoever reads any of this.