Happy New Year & Word of the Year

It's that time again. Time to come up with a "word of the year".

IIt seems like just yesterday that I was contemplating my "word" for 2010.

Some of my previous words have been: ACCOMPLISH, FOCUS, COMPLETE.

This year I would like my word to help motivate me in my journey to get stronger, lose some weight, become better about protecting my time, continue to improve our finances, get some projects completed, etc.

Phew! That's a lot to get done this year!

Here are some of the words I have been tossing around:

1. RENEW

2. HEALTH

3. BEGIN

4. ACT

I think I need a little more time to process.

I may have to revisit Ali Edwards' list here.

In the meantime, I am excited at the promise of a new year and an opportunity to reassess and make some changes.

The first change will be getting these Christmas decorations down and my house back in order! That's my plan for New Year's day - let's see how far we get.

I am feeling pretty good right now about my decision to decorate "light" this year.

Makes for a much nicer clean-up!

Here's wishing a wonderful New Year to all of my friends and family!

Have fun and be safe!

The J9

Hour of Power - Update

Wow! That hour went awfully fast!

Here's what I got done:

1. Cleaned up the kitchen.

2. Went through the mail.

3. Put away the Fall/Halloween bins.

4. Vacuumed the family room.

5. Rotated the laundry (I actually had to rewash the load in the dryer - ughhhh!).

6. Swept the kitchen floor.

7. Created the menu for this week.

8. Helped the girls make jello!

I feel pretty good about that list!

We have a little friend with us today while her mom gets some things done. She loves hanging out with Emma and Zach! Emma is so good with her!

Here is a peek at our menu for the week. I have some plans to change our menu board up a little. Another one of those projects where I hope to use things that I already have and spend no extra $$$.

I'll show you how it turns out!

Your turn - what did you get done?

The J9

Sunday, Sunday

Sunday is always a lazy start day for us at the Billings' household. It is the only day that we get a chance to sleep in. The cool temps this morning made it even more enticing to stay in our warm and cozy beds!

Now that I am up and moving, I am surveying all that needs to get done before we leave for softball double-headers this afternoon.

No projects for today :( Just clean and go!

I think I need an "Hour of Power". Have you ever tried this? Usually, when I am feeling a little overwhelmed, and a little under-motivated, I call a friend and ask her to join me for an "Hour of Power". We both do as much as we can for an hour and report back what we have accomplished when our hour is up.

Who wants to join me? I'm starting in 5 minutes - and will report back at noon.

Here's hoping for a big, long list of things that are done! "Hour of Power" here I come!

The J9

Gearing Up for Fall and Halloween

I love Fall.

It is, by far, my favorite time of the year.

That being said, Fall has been slow to appear here in Kansas. Up until this past week, we have still been seeing temps in the 90's. Crazy! Now that things are finally starting to cool down, I'm starting to feel the urge to pull out the bins with the fall/halloween decorations.

One thing I know my collection has been lacking is a nice bold, something for the front door.

I have been searching for a wreath or something to hang, but haven't been able to find anything that I really love - and that won't break my budget. Budget is important at my house!

While I was at Hobby Lobby last week, I found some fall bunches that were on 50% off sale. I grabbed a leafy bunch, some small pumpkins, a few accent pics, and a grape vine wreath. Best part - everything was on sale!

After bringing it all home, I cut everything apart with wire cutters, heated up my new glue gun and started playing.

I started by hot glueing the leaves randomly around the grapevine wreath. I just kept layering and filling in until I was happy with how it looked.

Once I had most of the wreath covered with leaves, I started placing the pumpkins and other accents.

It took me only about an hour to put the whole thing together - and I love how it turned out! I saw similar wreaths at Hobby Lobby for $79.99. Mine only set me back about $12.00! And, I think it is so much prettier - Just sayin'!

The plan is to get the rest of the decorations up this weekend, and finish off the fall decorating. I am challenging myself to use what I have on hand. No money on new decor items. I'll be excited to share how that goes!

Happy Fall!

The J9