Cord organizing in the bathroom

I know. I know. Why does someone who is so insanely lazy about doing their hair have two curling irons and a straightener? Well, for the two times a year I make an effort I do use these things. But yes on a daily basis I am very very lazy. Pony tails were invented for people like me.

I do have them though and these took 10 minutes to make and for those who don't suffer from "I need to label everything" syndrome they could be done even quicker. They are easy to use and cheap. I just covered them with scrapbook paper I had.

I hope everyone has a great Friday! The first day of spring was yesterday and I can almost see the remnants of our patchy lawn underneath the melting ice... Almost. I want to go the nursery and buy a bunch of plants but we walked home in flurries yesterday so Toronto spring might not quite be here yet. Spring is my favourite season and it can not come soon enough!

J xx

Craft Organization (mini project)

I was so disappointed when the over the cabinet holder was miles too big! Thankfully I found another use for it. I used to have Oz's crafts in a caddy but it was so big it took up his whole table. I love this! $5 at Home Sense. I love Home Sense. We used to to live 5 minutes from one in Vancouver. I probably miss it a little too much. 

Ignore the chipped paint! This is on my summer painting project list! I'm actually thinking of painting it orange.

I have three mini boxes in there from the dollar bin at Target. Perfect fit!

Filled with paint, markers, paper, colouring books, and painting smock. 

For the record out of all of his paintings he chose to hold up the abstract beauty I made. :) 

Hope everyone is having a great week!!! 

 J xx

My handbag organizer!

3 years ago this kid was born!

So blessed. My heart is too full to say anymore.

1 Samuel 1:27 For this child I prayed. 

Love, J xx

Infertility Hurts. Period. (Yellow Shirt Day!)

      Today is yellow shirt day for endometriosis awareness. Endometriosis is a disease very close to my heart, my uterus, my intestines, my bladder and other organs.  If you have read my posts on infertility before you know that this is the disease responsible for my infertility. Endometriosis affects one in ten women and is the leading cause of infertility. Endometriosis is when the endometrial lining that sheds each month grows outside the uterus. This can grow anywhere, it has even been found in the brain. Each month this lining sheds from the organs it has attached itself to which can cause excessive pain, exhaustion, diarrhea, burning bladder pain, headaches, vomiting, painful sex, and much much more. It can also act as a paste attaching organs together. Some women experience very little discomfort if any and for some women this pain is debilitating. Not life threatening, but quality of life threatening.

There is no cure for endometriosis. The only way to get rid of the excessive growth is to undergo surgery. This will temporarily remove it but it will grow back. Many women suffering the effects of this disease will undergo surgery every couple of years, have parts of their other organs removed,  and in some cases have a complete hysterectomy.

Infertility is more often discussed in todays society and I think that is a really important thing. I think it is awesome more and more people are speaking out! I do however think it is important to talk about the after affects of infertility as well. The causes behind infertility do not always go away once someone has been successful in pregnancy or decided to no longer seek treatment. For many of us infertility was a long and painful emotional process that began with a long and painful disease, and continues with a long and painful disease.

I am thankful for my infertility in that I have been given the most beautiful gift from this journey. My son remains the icing on my cake every single day. I still battle this disease though, it is still very much part of my life.

For those reading this that may have endometriosis I will share a few things that have been huge life changers for me! (These will not help everyone but they helped me)

1. Accupuncture. Without a doubt I have had amazing success with this. It is worth a try for those desperate for relief and many specialize in these issues.

2. It is common for women with this disease to have wheat and milk allergies! I had no idea until last year when I was at the end of my rope. Going off wheat changed my life. I mean that sincerely. Changed my life. Daily pain minimized. Exhaustion affects me less and less. I have not had a headache in 3 months!

3. Interstitial cystitis has been referred to as endometriosis's evil twin. If you experience bladder infection  symptoms each month you may have this disease as well. Do not make the mistake I did and take cranberry pills for this! Cranberry, lemon, citrus are all irritants of this bladder disease. Here is a link to the bladder friendly diet recommended. http://www.ichelp.org/document.doc?id=7

4. And here's a tricky one that is easier said than done but it helps me.  Relax! I know, I know, hard to do when you feel awful and sick, and want to rip your uterus out but it makes a difference.  Stress affects our hormones and this is an estrogen dominance disease. I take Vitamin B which is a big stress buster to help keep me calm... Sort of. Calm is still a work in progress.

Today is our day girls to spread awareness and talk about how this disease has impacted us. Please share your own stories and insights and if you have anything that work for you! I am always after new  tricks to help fight this disease.

Big hugs to all you women. You are warriors and I have the utmost respect and empathy for anyone who is suffering from this. Our numbers are large, and our voices need to be heard. Speak out. Share your stories. Support one another. We need you.



Love, J xx

  

Easy Peasy Earring Organizing, Simple Drawer Fresheners, and My Favourite Spot in the House!

This is my favourite spot in the house. It's a tiny corner of our tiny bedroom and when I walk into our room it always makes me smile. It holds two of my favourite family pictures and a bowl of summer (ie, lemon potpourri), and some other little goodies I love!

These were two of the first pictures I found for our new house and they were from a thrift store for $6. I love lily of the valley but with three cats lilies are a no no in our home so this is the best I can do. Plus they make me think of Kate Middleton's wedding bouquet and then I feel a little like a princess. I'm not sure I've ever mentioned my hard core love for Kate Middleton whose wardrobe I am obsessed with but there it is. My life long goal to be best friends with the duchess all summed up in a $6 Goodwill find. 

This shelf I found a few years ago at the Sally Ann as well and I still love it. It holds my perfume (and yes I do have Britney Spears perfume. It's ok to judge me. I judge me a little too. ) And two baskets from Ikea that fit perfectly! I love a good basket. 

In basket one is a large collection of antique handkerchiefs that I have wrapped around lavender and rose petals to make drawer fresheners and a couple extra flat drawer ones. The flat ones work great for travelling and you can also use the perfume samples in magazines as well for a quick easy way to keep your clothes smelling good! 

Cute and nice smelling. This one is made from my Oma's handkerchief. Sentimental and useful!

The second basket is my jewelry holder. The Tiffany box holds some larger earring I rarely wear and the silver one holds my sentimental jewelry safe and contained. The faux egg cart if my favourite though!

With nine little spaces all my frequently worn earring fit in here. This was $2 from Michael's and worth every penny! You could easily do this with an actual egg carton or if you want something fancier Anthropoligie has some very cute ceramic ones. And as for my stud earrings...

I keep them together with buttons. Cheap and convenient buttons! Cute and easy to grab. Easy to pack too. The ones on the end Doug got me for Christmas. Aren't they ridiculously cute?!

So that is my easy Peasy Jewelry organizing! How do you store yours? I'd love to hear your ideas in the comments below!

Love, J xxxx

A cookie sheet, some magnets, and some glue. My new menu planner.

I'm pretty smitten with this project. I was inspired on pintrest by someone who had made a magnetic board for their office from a cookie sheet and I thought it was genius and cheap. And let's face it cheap is always a huge bonus!

I decided to use the idea to make a menu board so with my handy label maker I made some magnets for the days of the week, plus a few extra at the bottom for extras that may need to be added on. I had all these pretty yellow flowers I've been wanting to use for something! 

Then I added the clothes pin and a bag for all my extra menu ideas. I typed them up and printed them on sturdier paper but you could easily save yourself the time and just cut the paper and hand write everything out. That said it is showing up as really dark for some reason but in person I can read the items perfectly clearly. 

I'm going to link up my old menu planner at the bottom because it may work brilliantly for most people. For me I found because it was in my family binder I didn't use it as much. I usually look at my cleaning and laundry schedule before bed just so I know what I need to do or if I have anything to prepare then night before so this for me makes more sense. I like knowing what my jobs are for the next day and it's easier to just glance at this then pull out my binder. 

Let me know what you think? Any cheap organizing ideas that you have found work great?

J xx

http://homemadebycarmona.blogspot.ca/2013/01/menu-planner.html

http://www.bhg.com/rooms/home-office/storage/cheap-home-office-storage-ideas/#page=6

Be Our Guest (Surviving the season of joy)

The holidays are always a stressful stressful time and really they should be the most enjoyable of the year. Family and friends getting together shouldn't cause our anxiety rise and migraines to come upon us. So here are my best holiday tips from someone who has massive amounts of anxiety when people visit. I can become a very unpleasant person in fact prior to house guests.

So how do we make the holidays pleasant? For one let go of perfection. Do what you enjoy and do it well. If you like cooking, cook up a storm. Baking? Go nuts! What if you are not a fan of either? Plan ahead and keep it simple. Don't spend hours on something you find entirely stressful. Your guests want to spend time with you they are not going to care if your appetizers are top notch.

I love to decorate and do all the little touches for my guest room so that's where my energy goes. I cook ahead what I can because it's not my favourite thing to do and this year baking has been minimized too because I just don't have the time or inclination. Focus on what you enjoy and your guests will enjoy it too. Store bought muffins won't kill anyone... I think.

Plan ahead as much as you can. I have tried to break down little chores for the last couple of weeks so that the day or so before people come over I'm not panicking. If your guests feel like you are stressed out it's hard for them to enjoy themselves. No one wants to feel like an inconvenience.

If you are a bit uptight like me (uptight is the nicest way to put it) this may help you. I like things a certain way so I stress out over little things that a normal person probably wouldn't even consider. Because I like things to look a certain way I have planned ahead for my own craziness. I have an empty drawer in our only bathroom. This way guests stuff is out of our way and contained as well as a shower caddy. I have towel hooks designated for guests so my bathroom stays relatively the same. When you have a small space it's nice to still feel like there is a semblance of order. It's minor things but for me they make a huge difference.

Now given I LOVE to do the "bed and breakfast" type things I created a guest binder. We decided to name our house "Millie's Cottage" after Millicent who was the original owner of our 1920's home.
In it I put our address and closest intersection, as well as our internet passwords. I also have a breakfast menu, and since it's Christmas I put a Christmas picture in with a small calendar of what we'll be doing over the holidays while our guests are here. I have always wanted a guest room so doing things like this was a blast!

I also created a guest basket full of bath things, tooth brushes, cotton balls and q-tips. Also men and women's deodorant, shampoo and a sleep mask.

Because our home reminds me of a Jane Austen novel I have lined the book shelves with her books and I ordered a print of a Pride and Prejudice quote from Etsy for above the bed. Who doesn't love Mr.Darcy? These are the things I love to do and hopefully our guests can enjoy.

Finally something about hospitality is that we are teaching our children what it means to be hospitable. So when we are running around freaking out about visitors (which believe me I am an expert on) I'm teaching my son that hospitality is stressful. That friends and family are stressful. I'm basically teaching him that none of this is fun which is a horrible message and one I need to work on constantly. I don't want him to think the holidays are when everyone yells at each other and mommy is crying over spilled milk. Literally.

So from me to you I wish you and yours a wonderful holiday and that you enjoy the warmth and company the holidays brings your way.

" Christmas is a season for kindling the fire for hospitality in the hall, the genial flame of charity in the heart."
   Washington Irving





Happy Holidays! Jessa, xx