Monotasking 101

What am I having for breakfast today?

What are we having for breakfast next Tuesday?

Did I change over the laundry last night?

Do I need laundry detergent?

I do need strawberries.
When will they start selling pumpkins?

 Ohhhh FALL...

I need to exercise.
I can't wait to decorate!

Where are my shoes?

Did I eat breakfast?

Monkey, Monkey, Underpants...

This is my mind on any given day. all day.

It races around like some olympic gold medalist from one thing to another until I have several things started, a mess and NOTHING completed.

enter: mono-tasking

I don't know about you but I really enjoy TedTalks, whether it be on youtube or podcast.

They generally get me motivated and ease that ever racing mind of mine.

A couple of months ago, I happened upon a TedTalk on Mono-tasking and it has changed.my.life...

You can find the TedTalk HERE if you want to listen.

monotasking: Choosing to focus on one task instead of multitasking

I posted on facebook the other day abut mono-tasking and several people were interested so I wanted to share here some tips that I have discovered. 

1. A goal without a plan is just a wish -Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

I am a planner by nature, admittedly almost to a fault.  

I plan out our weeks in several planners so that I can assure things go smoothly.

The first monotasking thing I do each week is plan for the following week.  I usually do this on Thursday mornings after breakfast.  I sit in my office with my planners and set myself up to succeed.

I strongly suggest making a top 3 priority.
If you get those three things completed, your day is successful!

2. Adopt a "finish the drill" mentality
I am a Georgia Bulldogs fan and a couple of years ago, they adopted the "finish the drill"
mentality and it was a AH HA moment for me.
Generally, I will start a project, the ADD kicks in and I am off to the next
project with a tornado of mess left behind.
Then at the end of the day, I am overwhelmed by my "productivity" mess.
Instead, I make myself "FINISH THE DRILL" complete the task and then clean up.

3. Bring yourself back to center.
I have been practicing yoga a lot lately and the "bringing myself back to center"
part really speaks to me.
When I feel like I am falling behind or have one million things to do and
just bring myself back to center and focus on the task at hand.

4. Lastly, be ok with not getting EVERYTHING done.
You are only one person.
To me, it seems that if I focus on one thing at a time,
I actually get more accomplished in the day.

Hope this helps some of you!

I will be sharing some of my planners and things soon!

Let me know how monotasking works for you!

XoXo

Welcome y'all! Come On In!

 When we moved into our new house, I knew exactly what I wanted from our foyer

Warmth and Welcoming

Of course, I knew that I wanted shiplap,

but other than that, I was going by the seat of my pants.

See this is what we walked into when we toured our home...

Just a little different! 

We removed the popcorn ceiling and "tried" to remove the wallpaper... it was a no go.

Enter: shiplap

See I went to Lowe's to price actual shiplap pieces and DANG!

They are expensive so we went another route.

We chose the least expensive board and had them cut down to 8" planks,

then installed them ourselves.  Painted them a flat white and BOOM.

 The shiplap for this entire room was roughly $50.00

Next we painted the bottom of the foyer my favorite color!

Valspar's: Mesa Tumbleweed

available at Lowe's

I seriously use this color EVERYWHERE.

After adding our new light fixture

You can find this light HERE

The door was next... 

I had seen in HGTV magazine, where someone had painted the inside of their front

door a dusty pink and well, I HAD TO.

Please let me sing the praises of my husband, who didn't bat an eyelash when I said,

"Honey, I want to paint the front door and I want to paint it PINK!"

He really loves me.

Paint color: Valspar's Dusty Rose

 Also available at Lowe's

Now, that all the painting and lighting was done, it was time to decorate!!

The first item that I bought for the foyer was this mirror.

I called up my sweet friend Griffin at Gryphons Acquisitions

and told her what I was looking for.  She found this mirror lickety split

and OF COURSE it was perfect.  She gets me like that. 

I paired it with two hanging mason jars and faux greenery from Hobby Lobby.

You can shop Griffin's shop HERE

and find similar greenery HERE

Next was a table or bench to go under the mirror.

I tried every foyer table I had and they were all just too long or too wide so we decided on the bench.

I started looking into buying one when low and behold, the husband comes home

with a bed frame from beside the dumpster at work...

to build a bench. HA! 

These are the type of people we are... just saying. 

After he put the bench together, I bought fabric and stuffing from Hobby Lobby

and made the cushion for the top.

I paired it with this Welcome Y'all pillow and a small basket from TJ Maxx.

I love how the gold on the pillow accents the mirror and keeps the room from looking too "rustic".

I change the contents of this basket out for each season but 

these green moss rocks stay in it a lot of the time. I found them at the Dollar Tree!

You can find this pillow HERE

Similar basket HERE

Similar Green thingys HERE

Next was the little table next to the bench.

I had purchased this little gold table from Marshall's several years ago

and it was the perfect size. 

I added a photo frame, my pineapple scentsy warmer and a little gold and white dachshund quill rest, that I found at an antique shop, to finish the look. I decided to keep all the accent pieces white to stay with the simplicity of the room and not take away from the gold table. 

I do change these decorations out per season as well. 

You can find the pineapple scentsy warmer HERE

(and it is totally on sale right now)

Similar table HERE

A rug from Homegoods and a couple a frames on the wall and

we were in the business of welcoming our guest!

I found these frames at the Dollar Store and yard sales!

Other than our kitchen remodel (more about that later)

this was the first room in the house that we completed and it is still one of my favorites.

I especially love looking through the dining room from my office to see it

ready for friends and family to walk through the door!

Lastly, I will leave you with a couple before and after photos of this room

and a little reminder:

Every room has promise, you just have to find it. 

Before

After

LOVE my pink door!

Before

After

What a difference the shiplap and a little paint make!

Before

After

I can not express how much I love this room!

Now y'all come on over and visit for a while!

XoXo

To my Seventh grader...

You started Seventh Grade today!

I am sure you are busy catching up with friends and trying to remember

your locker combination but I find myself in the same place year after year. 

So proud of you and so sad at the same time. 

Each new year means you are another year older, another year closer to leaving this house and starting your life, another year further from being my little baby. 

This year, you need me a little less.  I am a little less cool.

You look a little more grown up. 

You talk to me a little less and your friends a little more.

This year, you are one year from your teens.

Ouch. 

I can't get over how grown you are and how fast you are growing up.

I can say this however, I am SO proud of the young man you are becoming.

You are so bright and so quick. You certainly keep me on my toes.

You are so loving and so sweet.  I cherish those moments you still want your mama.

You are now a Christian and I can not wait to see you spread the light of Jesus in Seventh Grade.

You are my best friend while still knowing I am your parent and while you 

may not understand, Mama knows best. 

I hope you have the most amazing year! 

You will move mountains!

And just for the sake of this poor mama's heart...

Sixth Grade

Fifth Grade

Fourth Grade

Third Grade

Second Grade

First Grade

Oh be still my heart...

Kindergarten.

Why does it feel like the Kindergarten photo was taken yesterday?

If you need me, I will be in the corner, 

grasping onto his baby blanket and sobbing.

XoXo