5 Things I Do At Night To Set Up My Morning For Sucess

I am a creature of habit. I could easily eat the same thing for lunch every day (a tuna salad sandwich, Doritos, and grapes) and I would be completely satisfied.  In addition to being a creature of habit, I can get completely overwhelmed at the length of my to do list. Because of these two characteristics, I tend to rely on my routines. My routines tend to make me feel safe and they give me a sense of security. They also help me know what to do next so that I do not get overwhelmed. The routines that I follow are: my morning routine, my afternoon routine, and evening routine. I also have my Sunday routine or my GYST day routine.

However, my evening routine is the most important routine that I follow every night. Without my evening routine my mornings would be chaotic. Without my evening routine I would be lost and behind all day long.

So, here are........

5 Things I Do at Night to Set Up My Morning for Success

Clean the Kitchen. There is nothing that makes me feel behind in the morning than walking into a dirty kitchen.  Just taking a few minutes in the evening to do the dishes, clean the counters, and sweep the floor can make a world of difference in my attitude and my productivity.  I try to clean up right after supper each night and empty the drainer before I go to bed (I don't have a dishwasher).

Plan your day. This is an important one for me. I plan my day the night before so I don't forget an appointment or an activity that one of the kids has to go to. I even plan the most mundane things like laundry, brushing teeth every morning and every night.


Declutter the living spaces. I cannot go to bed with a messy house, it causes too much stress for me.  It's the one habit from my childhood that I cannot break.  I take 30 minutes to declutter the living room, the kids bedrooms, and to do a quick swipe in both bathrooms. It's alot less stressful (at least for me) to wake to a clean house then to wake up to a messy one. Am I right?


Read. I try to take the last hour or so before bed to read a chapter in the book that I am currently reading. This helps me to relax and actually helps me sleep better at night.


Go to bed early. Finally, I try to go to bed early every night. There are times that this just does not happen, but most nights I am in bed by 930pm.

What things do you do at night to have a successful morning. I would live to hear in the comments below!

Currently {1/22/2022}

  

 

Time and place: 10:32  and I am in the dining room, typing up this post.

  
Eating: Nothing at the moment, but I am thinking about my to do list for next week.

Drinking: A big glass of water (always)

Watching: Cobra Kai on Netflix

 

Reading: Unspoken. This was recommended on Prime Reading. So far, it's pretty good, but it's getting kind of creepy.

Loving: Being able to sit down after a long day of housework and taking care of my family and read my book for a little while/.

Working: I just started designing a meal planner. I cannot wait to see how it turns out! I'm so excited for this new project. I am also working on a weekly planner insert that I am excited about and a note pad that I have been wanting to design for a while now. I am also working on a monthly/weekly planner. I can't wait to see how these turn out. We have also launched a weekly planner on Amazon. This is something that I have always wanted to do and it's always been my dream to have my own planner and now it has finally come true. 

 

Here is the link in case anyone is interested:

 

Build Your Dreams Weekly Planner 

Listening to: the TV.

Buying: Groceries for the rest of the month and stocking up on certain items that are needed. I'm also looking at clothes and other household items that are needed. I am also shopping for science experiments.

Planning: I have most of my posts planned for the rest of November. I just have to write and schedule them. I am working on setting up some deadlines for my meal planner and other planners that I am working on. I am also working on some planner inserts. This should keep me busy for a while!

 

I'm trying to plan out a work schedule for the rest of the year. It's hard when we are homeschooling both girls this year. Hopefully I will figure one out soon.

I'm also working on next week's lesson plans for my 1st grader.

Wondering: can I pull it off? How will I pull it off?

Feeling: tired, but happy, always.

 

 

Meal Planning Tips and Strategies

I have been meal planning for years now and it has become my flight plan for the week. Sometimes I make a very detailed meal plan that includes breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks, and other times I just plan out a week of dinners. Honestly it depends on how busy we are during the week I am meal planning for.

Today, I will be discussing some tips and strategies for successful meal planning.

Meal Planning Tips and Strategies

Every week I try to accomplish the following:

• be flexible with meals 
• try to meal plan around your schedule (this is very important)
• leave at least one leftover night (depending on what I have made during the week I might have two or three leftover nights. It just depends.
• only plan/try one new recipe per week
• move unmade meals to the next week

When you are in a rut with your meal planning try the following strategies:

• take a week off and just use what you have on hand in your pantry or fridge 
• use cookbooks, pinterest, or you can even ask friends
• use an old meal plan
• use "theme' nights (these are my favorites) Monday-slow cooker, Tuesday- taco tuesday, Wednesday- leftovers, Thursday-slow cooker, Friday- pizza night, Saturday-Leftovers, Sunday-slow cooker.

When it comes to inspiration, I utilize the following:

• ask friends and family on facebook
• watch grocery hauls or what's for dinner videos on Youtube
• pinterest
• magazines
• use hashtags (#familymealplan #weeklymealplan #mealplan

What some tips and strategies that you use when meal planning? Please share in the comments below!

 

January 2022 Goals

Here we are in the second week of January! Yesterday I shared my goals for the new year, but tonight I am sharing just my goals for January. Hopefully this will inspire you to share some of your goals as well!

In January I want to....

Read at least 2 books
Practice Yoga 2 times a week
Work on Instagram growth
Have blog posts written through the month of February
Start planning A's birthday party
Have two at home date nights with the Husband
Drink more water
Track my food daily using My Fitness Pal
Walk at least 40 minutes 7 times a week
Eat healthier (more fruits and veggies)
Cut all sweets ( I have a major sweet tooth)

Have 2 or more movie nights with the girls

Do you do monthly or yearly goals? I would love to know some of your January 2022 goals?

 

2022 Goals

First, I want start off by wishing everyone a Happy New Year (11 days late)! I hope everyone had a safe and wonderful New Years. This year we decided to stay home, had some dinner, and played a few games. I cannot believe that it's 2022 and that it's also time to share my yearly goals. I plan to share my January 2022 goals this week.

 

 In 2022 I want to.....

• read at least 50 books
• have a successful year blogging
• set up a fitness plan  and stick to it
• eat healthier
• have at least 2 at home date nights with the Hubby
• have more family movie nights
• celebrate special and wacky holidays with the girls
  
• work on my meal plan
• launch my meal planner on Amazon
  
• launch my daily planner on Amazon
  

What are some of your goals for 2022?

 

Happy Homemaker Monday {1/10/2021}

Good evening everyone and welcome back to my blog. 

I hope every everyone had a wonderful weekend and are ready for the week ahead. 

It's 10:00pm and I am just now sitting down to write this post. Today, I have finished 3 loads of laundry ( the last is hanging to dry), cleaned the kitchen for the last time tonight (who loves a clean kitchen at night?), and I have finally picked up the living from a hard day of homeschooling and relaxing. I just hope my week will be as productive as this day has been.

Happy Monday and have a wonderful and productive week!

Happy Homemaker Monday 

The weather outside is:

Cold but more seasonable weather this week.

What we had for dinner tonight (instead of the breakfast plate):

Chicken with rice and veggies

As I look out my window:

It's dark with twinkling stars in the sky.

As I look around the house:

The living room needs to be picked up and then kitchen needs to be straightened and the last load of laundry needs to be folded and put away.

Currently reading:

If She Only Knew by Lisa Jackson

On the TV this week:

Right now I am watching Cobra Kai (season 4) Yellowstone (season 1) and 1883 (season 1 episode 4, and Ordinary Joe (season 1 episode 11)

On the Menu this week: (I'm still figuring out the meal plan for this week)

Monday- Chicken and rice with veggies

Tuesday- Taco Tuesday

Wednesday-

Thursday-

Friday- Pizza with cheesy breadsticks

Saturday- Potato soup with homemade bread

Sunday- Meatloaf mashed potatoes and veggies

Inspirational quotes: 

 

 

 

My Favorite Christmas Movies

Hi Friends and welcome back to my blog! Today's post is all about some of my favorite Christmas movies.You know those movies that you have to watch every year, without fail, or those that best represent the season for you.

Here's my list!

1. Christmas Vacation:

As the holidays approach, Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) wants to have a perfect family Christmas, so he pesters his wife, Ellen (Beverly D'Angelo), and children, as he tries to make sure everything is in line, including the tree and house decorations. However, things go awry quickly. His hick cousin, Eddie (Randy Quaid), and his family show up unplanned and start living in their camper on the Griswold property. Even worse, Clark's employers renege on the holiday bonus he needs.

2. Home Alone: 

When bratty 8-year-old Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) acts out the night before a family trip to Paris, his mother (Catherine O'Hara) makes him sleep in the attic. After the McCallisters mistakenly leave for the airport without Kevin, he awakens to an empty house and assumes his wish to have no family has come true. But his excitement sours when he realizes that two con men (Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern) plan to rob the McCallister residence, and that he alone must protect the family home.

3. Elf:

Buddy (Will Ferrell) was accidentally transported to the North Pole as a toddler and raised to adulthood among Santa's elves. Unable to shake the feeling that he doesn't fit in, the adult Buddy travels to New York, in full elf uniform, in search of his real father. As it happens, this is Walter Hobbs (James Caan), a cynical businessman. After a DNA test proves this, Walter reluctantly attempts to start a relationship with the childlike Buddy with increasingly chaotic results.

4. The Holiday:

Dumped and depressed, English rose Iris agrees to swap homes with similarly unlucky in love Californian Amanda for a much-needed break. Iris finds herself in a palatial Hollywood mansion while Amanda navigates the lanes of a picture-perfect English village. Soon enough, both lovelorn ladies bump into local lads perfect for a romantic pick-me-up.

5. The Family Stone:

Everett Stone (Dermot Mulroney) wants to bring his girlfriend, Meredith Morton (Sarah Jessica Parker), to meet his bohemian Connecticut family at Christmas. Straitlaced Meredith, feeling she needs backup, asks her sister Julie (Claire Danes) to come along. Hoping to win the approval of her boyfriend's parents Sybil (Diane Keaton) and Kelly (Craig T. Nelson) and the rest of the family, instead Meredith succeeds only in highlighting her uptight personality and making Everett doubt his intentions.

Now, this doesn't make up my entire list, but these are the movies that I have watch every single year.

What's on your must watch movie list?

Top 10 Christmas Facts You Might Not Know

Since Christmas is next week I thought I would do a quick search on the interwebs to find some interesting facts that you may or may not know about Christmas. 

1. The Germans made the first artificial Christmas tree out of dyed goose feathers .

2.  Each year more than 3 billion Christmas cards are sent in the US alone.

3.  All the gifts in the Twelve Days of Christmas would equal 364 gifts.

4.  In AD 350, Pope Julius1, bishop of Rome, proclaimed December 25 the official celebration 

            date for the birthday of Christ.

5.  Christmas trees have been sold in the US since 1850.

6.  Christmas trees usually grow for about 15 years before they are sold.

7.  Alabama was the first state in the United States to officially recognize Christmas in 1836.

8.  Christmas wasn't declared an official holiday in the United States until June 26, 1870.

9.  Oklahoma was the last U.S. state to to declare Christmas a legal holiday in 1907.

10. During the Christmas season, nearly 28 million sets of Legos are sold every second.

 

What are some facts you would like to add to the list? Please leave them in comments down below!

 

December 2021 Goals

It's finally the end of the year, which has been another long year ever. I am looking forward to spending Christmas with my family and starting some new traditions with the girls. I plan on making this Christmas extra special for them since they have missed so much these last two years.

Anyway, here are the goals that I have set up for December.

December 2021 Goals

 1. Read two books

2. Clean and organize the playroom

3. Set up a printable shop on Etsy

4. Walk daily even if it's in the house

5. Organize the pantry

6. Clean and organize the freezer

7. Cross things off of our quarantine style Winter Bucket List (again)

8. Finish editorail calendar and content for January

9. Post more onto Instagram and learn how to use stories and reels

10. Launch my new meal planner on Amazon at the end of the month.

What are goals for December? Please share in the comments below, I would love to read them!

 

3 Ways To Stay Sane As A Stay At Home Mom

Even though I am a SAHM with 2 kids (11 and 7), I still do not a have a routine set. You would think that being a SAHM my house would be clean all day. Well, that's not true, my house is always a mess (I usually clean it at night after the kids are in bed), and there is always a pile of laundry that either needs to be washed or folded and put away. As you can see, I am not perfect, but there are things that I can do to make my days go smoother and to keep the laundry from piling up:

3 Ways to Stay Sane As a Stay at Home Mom

1.  Prepare the night before.

Sometime after dinner and before bedtime, make sure that you are ready for the morning. I sign folders and any other papers. I will pack her lunch when she doesn't want to eat in the cafeteria. I then straighten the living room and dining room and I will clean the kitchen (sometimes I don't do this every night). 

2.  Use your planner.

Have a planner session every week ( I do mine on Sundays) where you write down any appointments, school events, and other important dates. This really does help in the structure of my day.

3. Take time for you.

This is very important, just do something that you enjoy for a few minutes at night. I usually read or I will write in a journal. Recently I have started coloring in an adult coloring book and this has really helped to relax at night right before bed.  

How do you stay sane throughout the day?

4 Ways To Take Care of Yourself During The Winter Months

 I feel like during the holidays we can run ourselves ragged. It’s so easy to forget to take care of you while you’re busy trying to find the perfect gifts, go to all the family parties, and do all the things. Today I am sharing 4 ways to take care of yourself this holiday season so you don’t feel like you need a vacation come January!

4 Ways To Take Care of Yourself During The Winter Months 

 Take Care Of Your Hair: With all the parties and events, you can really damage your hair this time of year. Plus colder weather can make your scalp dry and flakey! Especially if you’re one of the 50 percent of people who have issues with dry, itchy scalp and dandruff, which can get worse when the temperatures drop. I recommend using a tea tree and peppermint-infused product from Head & Shoulders that will ensure the only flakes on your shoulders this winter are snow.
  
Take Care Of Your Mentality:  I  am a big fan of yoga. This is a great ways to take care of your mentality so the holiday stress doesn’t get to you! It’s one of the most stressful times of year.

Take Care Of Your Sleep: It can be so easy to want to do ALL THE THINGS. Sometimes you have to say no to something and get the extra few hours of sleep. Otherwise you will make yourself sick and you may not be able to do any of the fun stuff you want!

Take Care Of Your Body: While it can be easy to want to indulge in all the cookies, pastries, drinks, etc. remember to take care of your body with moderation. Everything in moderation. Also, this is not the time of year to skip the gym. Make sure to give yourself time to get some workouts in, even a 2 mile walk around your neighborhood. It will make detoxing after the holidays SO much easier!

 

Currently {11/13/2021}

  

 

Time and place: 3:50pm  and I am in the dining room, typing up this post.

  
Eating: Nothing at the moment, but I am thinking about what I am making for dinner.

Drinking: A big glass of water (always)

Watching: The Prince and Me on Prime Video

 

Reading: Suicide Med. This was recommended on Prime Reading. So far, it's pretty good, but it's getting kind of creepy.

Loving: Being able to sit down after a long day of housework and taking care of my family and read my book for a little while/.

Working: I just started designing a meal planner. I cannot wait to see how it turns out! I'm so excited for this new project. I am also working on a weekly planner insert that I am excited about and a note pad that I have been wanting to design for a while now. I am also working on a monthly/weekly planner. I can't wait to see how these turn out. We have also launched a weekly planner on Amazon. This is something that I have always wanted to do and it's always been my dream to have my own planner and now it has finally come true. 

 

Here is the link in case anyone is interested:

 

Build Your Dreams Weekly Planner 

Listening to: the TV.

Buying: Groceries for the rest of the month and stocking up on certain items that are needed. I'm also looking at clothes and other household items that are needed. I am also shopping for science experiments.

Planning: I have most of my posts planned for the rest of November. I just have to write and schedule them. I am working on setting up some deadlines for my meal planner and other planners that I am working on. I am also working on some planner inserts. This should keep me busy for a while!

 

I'm trying to plan out a work schedule for the rest of the year. It's hard when we are homeschooling both girls this year. Hopefully I will figure one out soon.

Wondering: can I pull it off? How will I pull it off?

Feeling: tired, but happy, always.

 

November 2021 Goals

It's hard to believe that November is already here! Crazy to think we are so close to Thanksgiving and Christmas. It's hard to believe that 2021 is creeping towards the end and before you know it a new year will be starting. I want this year to end with a bang! I have a few goals (new business) that I would like to accomplish before the end of the year.

So now that we are in November it's time to share my November goals. Here we go!

 

 

Personal goals for November

• Read 2 books
• Decorate for the holidays
• Start Christmas shopping for the girls
• Unplug during Thanksgiving break
• Rest and relax
• Have at least one at home date night with the Huby
• Celebrate Hubby's birthday (it's a special one)
• Spend on on one time with the girls

Work goals for November

• Start writing posts for Blogmas 2021
• Schedule blog content through the end of the year
• Complete editorial calendar through the end of the year
• Increase the number of followers on my blog
  
• Market our planner
• Work on more planner designs
• Launch Meal Planner by the end of the year 

What are your goals for November? Please share them in the comments below!