Word of the Year 2020 - Renaissance

Hope. Love. Happiness. Peace.

These are the type of things I want to feel in 2020.

Dear Reader, you are probably wondering why I didn't pick these words to be my Word of the Year. Well, it's simple really.

To achieve the above buzz words of emotional goals, I first have to rebuild...recreate...rebirth myself, my habits, and my idea of daily life.

So it's a rebirth, or a renaissance because I'm bourgeoisie.

Word of the Year 2020 - Renaissance

My inspiration for my word of the year came from one of #leohusband and my favorite YouTube Channels, Extra Credits

They had this video out a couple of months ago called A Rebuilding Year. It gave me hope that I could turn my burnout around and take a year to basically FIFO (Figure It the F&#$ Out).


I had so many astonishing but life-altering things happen in such a short time. I got a new diagnosis, a new job, a puppy, and switched from the yoga studio to a gym membership.

My schedule now has an additional day of physical therapy, my mornings start unbelievably early for my job, my puppy is basically a baby that needs to learn everything, and if I'm spending the money, I better get my happy ass to the gym. LOL!

I need to figure out how all this applies to my life and what that looks like now. If you would like to hear more about Word of the Year, check out my awesome podcast with Rebekah Svensson, Chronic Warrior Women.

In fact, Dear Reader, if you are wondering how I am able to make a blog post with all of this and a puppy...I'm at Starbucks and the puppy is taking his post-breakfast nap in his house. Then I'm going to do my normal Friday grocery store run. My Starbucks is right next to two of my favorite grocery stores. Boom. Two birds. One Stone.

If I have extra time, I'm going to get a little reading time in for my peace of mind and my soul. I hate to admit it but I started Daring Greatly by Brene Brown in November and I still haven't finished it. I may even get a little bullet journaling in.

Speaking of bullet journaling, I'm doing something different this year but you will have to wait until next Friday to see.

Which brings me to this Dear Reader, I'd love to post every day, but let's be honest...that ain't gonna happen. LOL! So I'm shooting for Friday's.

Wish me luck this year in my Renaissance while I FIFO! WooHoo!!!

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Just Too Damn Busy

I think the title says it all. I'm not bragging about being busy. I don't want to be busy.

In fact, I totally hate those people who act like it's a badge of honor to be totally swamped. Stop it you pretentious pricks. Insert eye roll here.

I can't seem to catch my breath since starting my new part-time job in the wee hours of the morning, and it's been much worse since the time change. Ugh!

In fact, I can't believe I have the time to update today but I brought my laptop to my doctor's appointment and I finished my feedback for this morning's classes...

So here I am.

No. I haven't died. I've just been busy and when I have a break the last thing I want to do is blog.

Between work, the gym, physical therapy, and trying to get a healthy dinner on the table, most days I nap or I want to binge-watch Netflix and relax.

I actually started writing this post last week, waiting for a doctor's appointment to start and after she came in, I closed my laptop and when I got home, I fell asleep on the couch, until #leohusband got home. Man, talk about being completely drained.

Me and My BFF (My Back Brace) on Vacay
I've also been out of the social loop, on vacation, so I tried to spend a week catching up, with friends, family, and doctor's appointments. Gosh, there's only so much energy to go around y'all.

To further complicate matters...? We've got our favorite festival coming up, the Texas Renaissance Festival. Once again, I'm going for gold to try to win the costume contest. I love that I have something to funnel my creativity into but I always end up waiting until the last minute to get my costume together, even though I started it in August.

Now, and here is the big news. We're getting a puppy, the day after Ren Fest, because I'm apparently a glutton for punishment. It's not good timing but it's never good timing to get a puppy so we might as well jump into the deep end.

Well, that about sums it up. I'm guessing you probably won't hear from me for a while since I'm going to be adding puppy training into my already charlie foxtrot schedule. I'm hoping to be back up and blogging in January 2020!

Wish me luck! Much love to my readers!

March 2019 Bullet Journal Set Up

How is March here already?

I was telling my mom yesterday that all the grand plans for 2019 have not worked out at all so far. She laughed and said it's only eight weeks in.

"Not good enough!" screams my inner perfectionist.

March 2019 Bullet Journal Set Up

Without further ado, I actually got my March bullet journal done in advance so there's that. I'm going to give myself a pat on the back for that.
I'm still loving my new month view calendar format but I think I'm going to make room for the month title at the top if I can, in April.
I may have to draw up some practice sketches first.
I kept my weekly's in the same horizontal layout because I'm really digging the overall appeal on the page.
I got some amazing wreath stamps, not that I minded drawing my own in January and February, but February has been such a weird month I needed a bit of a breather and hand drawing wreaths was not in my wheel house.

The stamps are gorgeous and I just colored them in with a tombow to make sure that they didn't bleed through the paper.



I intentionally added a menu section on now that my Whole30 is over. I'm debating adding a grocery list on the page below. I used the space below in February for what crafting project I wanted to complete that week.
BT Dubs, did you know that March is National Crafting Month! So definitely look for my Chronic Pain Crafts posts this coming month!



My bubble emotion and energy tracker has been looking awesome in February. In fact, I think it looks like Jupiter. Not sure if February and Jupiter have a corralation, but it looks cool. I haven't picked my emotion colors for March yet...maybe I should go with a Mars theme?

I kept my main tracker page the same because I really like the fact that I've ordered each category in keeping with my daily schedule.

Hope this gives you some inspiration this month! Get out there are get planning.

If you don't have a bullet journal yet or are looking to start one, you can start at any point in the year.

Fun fact, I started my first one in March!

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If you shop through any of my links in this post, you help support this blog at zero cost to you. Thank you for your consideration.



Bullet Journal Daily Routine 2019

2018 was a year that I tried to get things right and failed miserably. In that failure, I realized what I needed to do to change and that change was being consistent in all things.

Basically, it's learning to be a baby boomer. It's learning to be an adult. It's tidying every day. Putting things back where they belong. Not being a Scarlett O'Hara and waiting until tomorrow. Doing it now. Doing it even when you're tired and sick and struggling because not doing things is what got you into this mess. So do them.
2018 I plotted out two days, one day where I feel great, and one day where I'm having a pain flare.

Bullet Journal Daily Routine 2019

The problem was I never freaking followed either of my plans. I didn't even test them out to see if they were actionable, practical, or achievable.
This year I have taken a different approach. I have what I want to do each day plotted out but I'm waiting until I have a months worth of data before I fill the times or the chart in.

How long does my morning routine take on average?

How long does it take to blog and get pictures for my blog?

How long will menu planning, making the grocery list and doing the actual grocery shopping take?

So many questions, so little data.

I started out strong at the beginning of January only to be thrown a complete curveball with getting strep and a sinus infection. However, part of consistency means not giving up and getting back on that horse. February is right around the corner and my stopwatch is waiting to be activated.

Tidying Up with Marie Kondo on Netflix


I've often listed as cleaning out one of my finest selfcare moments. If I'm upset or stressed, I tend to clean. I know I've mentioned this before but when #breadwinnerbff and I were roomie's in undergrad...we would know if each other had a bad day based solely on how spotless the apartment was when getting home.

I distinctly remember her walking in once to me violently cleaning the floor and saying in a mildly amused tone, "So, how was your day?" We still laugh about it.

So my house is relatively clean and tidy. Monday was my tidying day, and I'm not ready to KonMari the attic or garage yet so I did the next best selfcare thing I could think of.

I put Tidying Up with Marie Kondo on Netflix.

I've talked about the KonMarie Method extensively because it's awesome and it works. I love it, you should love it. Read her book. Check out her YouTube videos. Watch the Netflix show.

Seriously.

I can tell my hormone cycle is making a shift because I'm so dang tired. I literally Googled "Yoga for When You Don't Want to Do Yoga" this morning. Ugh.

I need some selfcare y'all.

I've been waiting to watch the show since I saw it drop on Netflix over the holidays. 5 minutes into episode one I'm totally hooked and want to binge watch so bad but I'm going to restrain myself. Ok, so I may have watched 30 mins into episode two, but I really need to get to work around the house, but my almost 90 minutes of selfcare was worth it.

I will say overall the show is informative, heartwarming, and peaceful. Marie's calm nature washes over you and you do feel refreshed and rested after an episode is over.

2019 Bullet Journal Set Up


It's hard to believe we are already one week into 2019. Last Saturday, I looked at #leo husband and said that I couldn't belive that Monday was 2018. It felt like 2018 was three weeks ago, not 5 days ago. Man, that time dilation field gets me every dang time. #stargate #nerdqueen

So much has happened in one week. From taking all the decorations down, which after this meme by a friend, I felt totally cool with procrastinating...


...which was great because with all the family and friend fun I was totally behind on setting up my third bullet journal for 2019. Ticks me off though because last year, I was telling myself that I needed to start earlier next year, like the beginning to mid-December early. Well, that didn't effing happen. Ugh, best-laid plans of mice and men.
Well, with my niece's here I got to work on it because they love all things art. I've even tried convincing my oldest niece to try one. Showed her a couple of videos and she dug it. I love corrupting, bringing others over to the dark side, inspiring those around me to dig cool things that aren't mainstream.

Like Bullet Journals.


2019 Bullet Journal Set Up

This year I feel like I streamlined my collections to what worked and didn't work. It's an evolving process which I like. I'm also super stoaked about my brush lettering. Half of my setup was just having fun trying to come up with beautiful titles or unique ways to put the letters on the page.

What I kept the same:


My health/body tracker is mostly the same with the exception of I went to measurement only, instead of weight and measurement. That may change but I feel too many negative emotions are tied up by my scale. I want to see improvement in my tape measure, not the scale.
My Satan's Waterfall Log was super handy last year so I'm keeping it mostly the same but with a few new additions for symptom tracking.

My replacement tracker is exactly the same because I made it last year on a seperate page and never put it in my bujo.

Expenses, after tracking last year, I spend about $200-300 a month on myself. It seems like a lot but it is mostly medical related "perks" which I will talk about in a later post. I save what I don't spend and redeposit it at the end of the year into savings.

What's new:
I changed up the design for the year at a glance from a horizontal layout to a vertical one. I added the month view calendar above the item lists.

I have a Goal's page with my goal of consistency and kindness. I left blank spaces so I can add to the list as I become aware of the areas I need work on.

Vacation and Gifts have been narrowed down to one page instead of a two-page spread.
I cut movies because that was way too hard to keep up with, we watch a lot of movies, and increased my reading spread to two pages with 24 spaces because my goal is to read 24 books this year.
I have a perfect day "Daily Routine" which I haven't been able to reach yet, but I am building habits that will get me there. Although I will say part of the problem is my complete lack of a sleeping schedule from the holidays. Ugh.
I made a dedicated Whole 30 planning spread, and I'm hoping to do two Whole30's this year, I'd love to shoot for one each quarter but that ambitious goal is going to be a 2020 one.
I added a weekly tasks page because I tend to lose focus and do what's immediate and urgent that day. I really want to get into a good schedule because consistent daily routine reduces inflammation.

I have two blank pages left for anything that may come up later in the year that I feel is necessary to add.

2019 is going to be a great year. I've got a basic handle on my adhesive arachnoiditis. #leohusband isn't going to be in Europe for 8 months out of 12. We have big ideas and goals for us as a couple and can't wait to see them come to fruition.

Happy New Year my lovely readers!

2019 Word of the Year

Well, it’s a bright sunny morning here on the other side of New Year’s Eve, now 2019!

Today I’m starting many things:

A January Whole30

Writing a Book on Recovery/Health from a Humorous Standpoint

Starting a Podcast with one of my Health Guru P.I.C.'s

Learning to Love my Life No Matter What

Doing Art Again

Being on a Schedule, Being...Consistent


My word of the year...Consistency

Inspired by one of my awesome sister in laws. She holds consistent to her health goals no matter where she is or what day it is. I saw her workout our entire beach vacation and stay on her diet no matter what.

You should totally check out her instagram and podcast. @roomforbothpodcast @mm_mayo

I realized during that vacation that I need to be like that. I need to stay on my diet on vacation, on celebrations, etc. I need to do yoga every damn day...even if I'm depressed #leohusband is halfway around the world and my shoulder, or back, or knee (insert nerve pain affecting a particular part of my body here) is killing me.

Part of consistency is honoring where I am that day. If I'm tired or exhausted, then I'm doing restorative yoga that day. If my shoulder is hurting then maybe I'm going to avoid down dog or plank. Either way...consistent.

The first page set up in my 2019 bujo is down! I’m also keeping a consistency vision board upstairs in my studio and I have Post Its freaking everywhere with the word on them. This also lets me practice my new obsession - hand lettering.
I'm seriously obsessed Y'all but we will talk about that later!

I don’t want to F this up so I’m enlisting #leohusband to remind me if I make poor choices (which means I’m totally going to get cranky with him when he reminds me to be consistent). LOL!

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I’ve got so many appointments already on the schedule for January that need a home...plus I’m super excited to try out my new hand lettering skillz.


Tomorrow, I'm getting a plastic surgeon to look at the sutures that are breaking through my skin on my forehead. I think I'm going to take a long break from anything medically invasive in 2019. I'll just add that to my list...

However, it gives me a chance to put into practice my new schedule. I'm kicking back off with a round of The Miracle Morning so I should, in all honesty, be ready to go at 9:30 to get to my appointment.

If you don't know what the miracle morning is, check out this post here.

How to Survive a Dog's Death

It's incredible how a loveable furry four-legged friend can become an indispensable part of your life.

From waking up in the morning, following you around all day, conversations while cooking (on my part at least), to falling asleep at night...when they're gone you don't really realize how much you interacted until that constant leaves.

The first week was raw, in the sense that I simply could not talk about it or think about it without a giant hole tearing up my insides. I think that is a decent way to describe it. I threw myself into finishing the KonMari of my upstairs with help from the best parents in the world.
Unfortunately, the day after My Fluffy Alarm clock died, #leohusband got on a plane to finalize his overseas project. Getting through the week without my best friend was hard to put it mildly.

How to Survive a Dog's Death

I rearranged furniture. I hung new artwork. I donated office supplies. I cleaned out books. I evaluated what I actually wanted to devote my time to.

Then I ran out of steam. Honestly, I don't know how people do these KonMari marathons of cleaning. I think my emotions get the best of me holding everything and seeing 'if it sparks joy." Man, that's tiring ya'll.

I was already tired and stressed from Tiger's death, oh and my basal cell skin cancer surgery, and then it got infected...

Did I mention I was in the ER the night before Thanksgiving and Tiger died the day after Thanksgiving?

Worst Thanksgiving Ever!

This beats when I got my tonsils out when I was 21 on Thanksgiving. I thought that one was bad. Whew! That's life for you.
It's been 10 days and I only get the occasional pang when I expect him to be there. Take yesterday, I was making my Paleo Mac n Cheese and I literally said "Ooh Mommy's going to make her favorite quick meal" and then realized that he wasn't there. Sigh. I teared up and had a moment but then went back to my cooking.

I will say I did have to take a day a week later and really absorb his loss and what that meant. I allowed myself to feel the sadness. It was exactly one week after his death and it wasn't quite so raw. I was coming out of the numbness. The distractions needed to be set aside so I could focus on the grief in order to let it pass.

I know in the days, weeks, and months to come I will get moments of surprise sadness, and I will acknoweldge them, feel them, and then let them go. While I know it's ok to be sad, it's not ok to stay sad.

I am hopful we will meet again because where ever Tiger is, I want to be there too.

KonMari for Chronic Pain Sufferers Part 2

I’ve mentioned before that #leohusband and I have ‘completed’ a KonMari of our house. Well, by completed we cleaned out the kitchen and didn’t get rid of nearly the amount of stuff I wanted to. I did an excellent job of cleaning out my closet. However, the upstairs and the attic simply never got touched.

For a couple of reasons, we had to go slow because of my pain levels and the holidays were upon us. So we just did not get to the level of minimalism I desired in my life.

Well, as soon as we came back from Hawaii... I started on the upstairs. I deconstructed all the closets. Put my crap everywhere so I could just sort through it. When it came time for my housekeeper to clean, I just told her to skip the upstairs rooms that were crazy messy.

She has had to do that twice so far. However, I have learned to live with it because I am simply tired of shoving my excess crap into the closets of our guest rooms.

To make a long story short...(too late) I’m in the final stages of sorting through all of my art and crafting items. I’m setting up stations to get the most of my hobbies and work. In true KonMari style, if I want to do it or use it...it needs to be actually accessible.

I’m so psyched to get everything done before #leohusband gets home. So far it looks pretty scary...

How to Make Iced Tea without an Iced Tea Maker


I was cruising the web yesterday because I was wanting to answer the age old question...could I set my coffee maker up to brew tea in the morning. Yes. I am ready for the switch to tea.

I am perfectly capable of turning on my electric kettle and pouring my cup of tea, but frankly, I was wanting that smell of the brew and also to set the timer on my coffee maker so it would be ready at 6:30 when Fluffy Alarm Clock wakes up.

I want my pre-breakfast treat immediately so to speak.

However, this post is not about making tea in a coffee maker, well sort of.

So can you make tea in a coffee maker? Yes.
What shocked me was the number of people who made iced tea in the coffee maker, so they didn't have to use their iced tea maker.

So I nearly died of laughter.

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I remember my amazing mother making fun of all the people who owned an iced tea maker growing up as she taught me to make iced tea.

I'm going to say this.

Maybe those people who had parents and grandparents were A. not southern and B. must have not been affected by The Great Depression the way other people's parents or grandparents were. Maybe they were just never taught to make iced tea and they think they need a machine?

Most things we've learned to make are usually passed down through the generations...

The article mentioned that you could boil a pot of water for iced tea but then you are having to clean more dishes.

Seriously!?!

People iced tea is not rocket science.

How to Make Iced Tea without an Iced Tea Maker
First, you need a pitcher. My mom has this amazing depression glass one that has been handed down through our family. Until I find one in an antique store, I use just a regular gallon sized pitcher.

Ingredients:
4 - 6 Black Tea bags of your choice depending on how strong you like your tea. I usually go for 4.
1/4 cup of raw unfiltered honey (I do my sweet tea paleo style)

Supplies:
Tea Kettle or Electric Tea Kettle
Gallon Sized Pitcher
Clothespin or Clip
Make your iced tea:

1. Fill your kettle to the max or live on the edge and go a bit past the max line
2. Turn your kettle on
3. Clip the tea bags to the side of your pitcher
4. Drop in your honey to the bottom
5. Pour in the boiling water to below the tea bag line
6. Stir the honey in with the boiling water
7. Pour in the rest of the water - usually to the 2L line for me
8. Let the tea steep for 1 - 2 hours
9. Top off the tea with cold water until it reaches the 3L line.

Boom.

Iced Tea.

One dish used.

Store in the refrigerator it will keep for 1 week if it stays around that long.

Quick Paleo Pickles



Lately, I’ve been really into pickled vegetables. Did you know that you can pickle just about anything?

Yesterday, I did a quick pickle of radishes in zucchini to go with my salmon burger.

All you need to make a quick pickling solution you probably already have at home.


There are two ways to go about pickling. 

If you want to infuse herbs then you want the heat method (described below) or if you want them immediately - which I did with my meal - then thinly slice your veggies and dump them into a bowl with a mixture of 1/2 c of raw apple cider vinegar and 1-2 tsp of honey.  

Stir about every 2-3 minutes for approximately 10 minutes. 

Boom, quick pickled veggies.

For infusing herbs, and you've got time as in, overnight kind of time, check out my pickle brine below.

Ingredients:

Veggies
Variety of Herbs and Spices to Taste (dill, garlic, hot peppers, or plain)
3 t of Himalayan Salt
Apple Cider Vinegar
Raw Honey
Water
16 oz Mason Jar




Sanitize your Mason Jar by washing the jar and lid in hot soapy water. Rinse well and dry completely. You could also wash them in the dishwasher if you have a sanitize cycle. 
Combine your choice of chopped veggie with herbs and or spices if you want in the Mason jar, leaving 1-2 inches at the top for the brine.
Heat ½ cup of filtered water over low heat until boiling, then stir in ½ cup of apple cider vinegar, salt, and a little raw honey, maybe about a tsp. 
The hot brine infuses the spices and creates that tender crunch you get with pickling. Secure the lid, and cool at room temperature before refrigerating. Let the veggies refrigerate for at least 24 hours before enjoying.

Why Habits Fail Even When They are Simple

Ever since May I’ve had a really hard time keeping up with my bullet journal among other things.

This is also because I haven’t been doing my miracle morning for about three months now. I’m trying to diagram where my motivation is falling, I noticed that I kept up with my bullet journal more when I took the time to create beautiful layouts.

I think approaching August I’m going to jump back into spending more time creating a gorgeous design in my bullet journal. My goal this week is to get August set up and come to grips with my morning schedule.


I do love the miracle morning - that said - doing it from January to May, I felt less rested and more tired. I kept eating breakfast later and later and sometimes not at all.

Well, with all of the research I'm doing on cortisol and how it has such a strong connection to adrenal fatigue (which I also have) and hypoglycemia - the late breakfasts or zero breakfasts have contributed to my overall health.

I just kept becoming more and more exhausted and it definitely did not help that my golden retriever kept waking me up earlier and earlier. Hey, I'm supposed to be waking up to my 6:00 AM alarm not at 5:30 to feed you. UGH!

So the lack of sleep, not eating on time, and drinking too much coffee has landed me where I am now.

Back to the drawing board. So why did my carefully crafted habits fail when they were technically easy to follow?

Simplicity isn't everything but good rest and common sense are when it comes to troubleshooting problems. Now that I have had my hormone testing done, I'm convinced that sometimes habits fail due to unknown circumstances. In my case, eating too late and too much coffee just led me deeper down the rabbit hole to a place where I could not sustain my habits.

I'm working on a three-month detox for my adrenals so after that I want to re-read The Miracle Morning and see how to adapt and get back into it in a healthy way.

I want to streamline my morning routine so I can make sure I'm getting my journaling done but am getting food into my body at the exact right time. I can't wait for my adrenal books to get here so I can really delve into things like when to eat, when to snack, when to workout, so I can reset my cortisol.

What are you using your living spaces for?

I treated myself a few weeks ago to a beautiful BHG Organizational Magazine. It was a nice under $10.00 Treat Yo Self moment.

The gorgeous cover caught my attention mainly because if I could sell everything in my house tomorrow and start fresh, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

I don't know if it's that everything reminds me of better times or I'm a new person since my disease so I feel weird and out of touch in my surroundings. Maybe both.

As I browsed through the magazine at first glance an article about addressing the true needs of a room caught my eye. It really got me thinking that although I have a small home office set up in the guest room and an art nook, I always end up grabbing my finances or supplies and hauling them downstairs to work on in front of the TV.

What are you using your living spaces for?


Bullet Journaling? In front of the downstairs TV.

Crocheting? In front of the downstairs TV.

Calligraphy? In front of the downstairs TV.

XBox? You can guess what I'm about to say.

Seriously. Art through XBox occurs in our downstairs living room. $10 says you can guess where I'm blogging right now. So why don't I have a desk in there?

Ooh! Let me look at 'desk in the living room' layouts on Pinterest.

6 hours later...

I have confirmed that a desk in the living room would rock and that yes, I should totally sell everything in the house and start over. Sigh. Back to square one!!!


I took the plunge and sold our loveseat and couch on Nextdoor. I used the funds to buy a desk and thanks to my awesome parents - they bought me a sectional that is comfortable enough to stretch out on for my arachnoiditis leg. I will be doing several covers for my mom and a few book layouts pro-bono to repay her.

I challenge you this week to really examine what you do in your rooms at home and set up that room according to how you actually use it.

Here is what I came up with...


Treat Yo Self Mental Chores: Master Bedroom



If you are reading this on your phone and you are home, walk into your bedroom.  If you're not at home picture your bedroom.

Can you instantly see or think of one or more things that need to get done but you just haven't done them?

I know I can.

I have jewelry I need to find a home for, a painting that needs to be stored until next winter, and a bookcase in desperate need of styling...or at least the cords hidden for Pete's sake.

Ugh.

It doesn't matter that I finally got my cord keeper mounted and organized on the back of my nightstand, or I finally hung artwork that I received as a gift on the wall.

I don't think of what I've accomplished, I think of what I haven't, and that's called the Ziegarnik effect.  More on this psychological theory here.

Over the next few weeks, I'm going to challenge you to do 1 to 3 things in each room and then see how you feel mentally (and even physically) when you get those things off your plate.

So the above pictures are my before photos.

As always I will document my mental state.  Today...gee I'm doing a Whole30 and it's kill all the things days. LOL! Well, we will see how I do.

Week 1: Treat Yo Self Mental Chores: Master Bedroom

One week to:

Sort and store my jewelry 🗹
Hide the TV cords 🗹
Style my bookcase/media center 
🗹

DONE! 
Yes, I do feel really good when I crawl into bed at night.  It's finally finished and even #leohusband said it looked really good.  I almost fainted! This coming from him is a real compliment.