Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas, Seasons Greeting, Happy Holidays!

Wishing you the best of the season: good health and prosperity in all things.

Life is Good:)

I've Always Dreamed of Paris

There is something romantic about Paris. I have never had the privilege of visiting but I dream about going. I imagine cobblestone streets, old buildings with rich history, fine wine, and of course wonderful pastries. I also imagine seeing beautiful people.

As a result of my fantasy, I am drawn to all things Parisian: books,  photographs, relics, blogs and  even podcasts. One podcast that is dear to me is called The Simply Luxurious Life by Shannon Ables. I first learned of Shannon by reading her book of that same title. Then I found her blog. She is a self proclaimed Francophile. I can't say I am a true Francophile because I haven't studied about Paris and its culture. Instead, I have just absorbed information in passing and thus I continue to dream.

When I tell my kids of my desire to visit Paris, they give me so many historical details as to why they think I may not like it. I tend to ignore their remarks and my love affair with this place of my dreams continues.

Where do you dream of? Have you had an opportunity to visit. Did it live up to your expectations? Let us know and until then continue dreaming if it makes you happy because ultimately these little joys add to the Good Life:)

What Advice Would I Give to My 20 Year Old Self?

As I pondered the question, "what advice would I give my 20 year old self?", many thoughts came to mind. The obvious responses centered around spirituality, family, health care, etc. We tell our kids these things daily: pray often, God loves you, eat healthy, we love you. But outside of these very important but obvious words of advice, what else would I tell them and what do I wish I had known at the tender age of 20?

You Create Your Life by Habits

I wish I had known the importance of the seemingly mundane things that I kept doing repeatedly. These habits whether good or bad generated serious repercussions in my life. For example, I had the bad habit of not putting my keys in an exact location daily. As a result, I spent countless mornings looking for my keys and being late for work. On the other hand, I had some good habits, such as making my bed and balancing my check book. As a result, I tend to be very neat in terms of home keeping. In addition, my personal finances are in a good place. Our habits become us and the life we create is as a result of them. If I had known this when I was younger, I would have focused more on creating good habits in specific areas, which would have ultimately helped me to achieve my goals at a much faster pace.

5 Apps that I Use the Most

When you are a Mom and an entrepreneur, you are constantly on the go. Others are dependent on you to make important decisions or to complete mundane tasks. Thankfully, we all carry our little computers in our purses or on our person. Our mobile phones have so much potential to simplify our lives if we would download apps. Here are 5 apps that I use most often and that help me to streamline my tasks.

Xero

I've written on this blog about Xero. It's an accounting software that was built for the cloud. It also has an app wherein I can invoice customers, accept payments, reconcile accounts and so much more. When you are on the go, it is easy to map your customer's address via the app.

Hootsuite

If you are on multiple social media platforms, Hootsuite helps to save time. You can post once and your post is simultaneously added to multiple networks of your choice. Also, you can schedule posts which allows you to plan for the entire week and or month. With the app, you can easily manage your social media from any place in the world.

Google Docs

We all know that Google's email is a wonderful addition to our smart phones since with it we can respond to emails on the go; but how many of us have actually downloaded the Google Docs app. With Docs you can create and share documents on the go. When you are on your desktop, if you upload important documents to Google Doc, then you will have access to these documents when you are on the go. On the go access allows you to be more efficient because you can amend, share, edit, etc documents wherever you are.

Come Grocery Shopping with Me

I've had a smile on my face all morning. Why? Because I love grocery shopping for my family. Sounds weird, I know. It's just that I am a foodie. I love food, both cooking and eating. I'm not a trained chef, just a home cook who enjoys sourcing ingredients for the menus I've planned.

This week our menu includes:

• Lasagne and Salad
• Turkey Soup (using the leftover turkey neck etc that I placed in the freezer after Thanksgiving)
• Curry Chicken with Rice and Steamed Vegetables
• Fried Fish, Mashed Potatoes and Green Beans
• Baked Wings and Salad.

There will be one day of leftovers and one day off from cooking, which is usually Saturdays.

Why menu plan?

5 Habits of a Successful Mompreneur

Habits are powerful and as the old saying goes "habits make us or break us." This is why it is especially important that we build good habits into our daily lives. Little things do matter because over time they create a big impact. Below are 5 habits that I incorporate into my daily life as a Mompreneur. I believe that these habits help to keep me organized as I strive to provide for my family and for the stakeholders who depend on me in business.

Plan your Day the Night Before

Every evening I plan for the next day. Planning helps me to think of what I want to accomplish and it also allows me to manage my time better. With a family and a business, at times I am juggling so many obligations: a child has a chorus concert at 6:00 pm, another child needs to be picked up from College because her Christmas break has begun, payroll is pending, an employee needs a job letter, not to mention dinner and general homekeeping. I am quite sure you too have a lot on your plate. For me, planning allows me to segment my day between: 

• Home
• Business
• Kids
• Personal Time
• Family Time

Though I may not get everything done daily, at least I am aware of what needs to be done. I can then delegate and or postpone. Not keeping it all in my head helps me to be a lot more organized. Daily planning works; but keep in mind that annual goal setting and monthly planning helps one to accomplish so much more.

Christmas Decorating

Christmas is really the most beautiful time of the year! Seeing all of the decor in the stores makes me feel very happy. Though some are Scrooges, even the Scrooge must admit that people seem happier. My family tends to decorate around Thanksgiving weekend and this year was no exception. Here I have shown our home as decorated for Christmas.

Repurpose and Reuse

D

I love the Nest. It has such unique items for the home. Just recently, I went shopping for candles. My shopping items were packaged in such a beautiful Nest shopping bag. When I got home, I just couldn't discard that bag. Instead, I folded it up and placed it in my garage.

If you follow my blog, you would know that my planner is a 1917 Leuchttrum. I am a person who keeps planners from year to to year. I archive them when they are full. Thus, I have planners dating back to 1995. They are precious to me. I have things written down regarding milestones in my children's lives, such as when they lost their first tooth. Also, there are doodles that they drew in my planners when they were really tiny.

Because I value my planners, I take good care of them. Unfortunately, my current journal has pen marks on the outside cover. I've been looking for a cover and I even considered buying some expensive leather options. Then, I remembered my shopping bag. So instead, I repurposed and reused the shopping bag as my planner's cover. What I enjoy about this option is that it can be seasonal. For now my journal reflects the Christmas Season and I can easily change it up as the season changes.

I think it's cute. I love it. What have you reused and repurposed? Share below. Life is Good:)

How I Stay Organized

As a Mompreneur, I have to keep my business ventures as well as my home and family organized. This is no small feat because everyone and everything pulls you in multiple directions. At times, this may leave you feeling overwhelmed, undervalued, and incompetent. Trust me, I know I've been there. Over the years, I have finally figured out what I need to do in order to stay sane. I have learned from many different gurus; I have read many different books and I have used multiple resources. In the end, I needed to figure out what works for me.

There is no guarantee that what I present herein won't change again in the next year or even in the next six months. All I know is that it's working for me right now, at this specific place in time. I am sharing with you hoping that you can glean something from my experience thereby discovering something new that can work for you.

Leftover Thanksgiving Ingredients

Hello! I am so so excited about this post. I grocery shopped this past Friday. As I looked at the old food in my freezer, I saw some leftover pumpkin puree. My daughter made pumpkin bars for Thanksgiving but there was 1/2 cup leftover. She placed the remainder in the refrigerator. Eventually, I placed it in the freezer to avoid spoilage. But I thought when I saw it looming in the freezer that we needed to do something with it so it wouldn't be wasted. Thankfully we did.