Finishing my "Happiness Project"- Self reflection

This month I will be reflecting on an entire year of transformation. I have turned my thoughts towards the new year and have a gut feeling that 2011 will be my best yet!

Having gone through what I've gone through this year I feel a complete shift in my DNA. A change of heart about having a third child, turns out I do! A change in how and who I intend to do business with in this new small town I've been thrust upon. How far Im willing to travel to work. My health...oh thats a big one too! God and my family come first. And while I've been sacrificing them for far too long to help those that call on me I have worked all year on finding balance.

My parents have aged considerably this year...all while I've relocated 3 hours north to them. I haven't been present with my first family in quite a while. I intend to be more "present" with them in the new year. It really has been difficult being away from home for the first time ever and with my dad soon turning 80 I need to get with that!

My husband and I are changing and settling into our mature selves these days. Our boys are bigger we are able to experience so much more now as a family. Life is so good, but I feel I haven't appreciated it up until this point.

I've been following Gretchen Rubin's "The Happiness Project" all year. Excited it will soon be a real tv show with "Charlotte" from SNCity series as Gretchen herself. I tried to even get my methodist women's circle to follow it as well, however,  I was the only one who stuck it through and boy am I glad I did.

I have reflected on it so much throughout the year that I feel it is somewhat a bible or guide to help me in life to be the better wife, mom, sister, friend, etc.

This is my last month, sad but true, and this month's resolution is to follow the way of perfection acting with greater love. By learning to do the loving thing, to learn to be grateful, practice humility, listen and laugh, don't top, forget scorecards, no calculation, loving thoughts actions and words, putting aside anger and resentment...and most of all be happy. Tall order!!! But she hasn't let me down so far and I've changed a lot of my inner nature and discovered quite a lot about myself these last 11 months.

My long time clients, the ones I have built a true relationship with and feel concern in their well being I have realized I keep telling them the same thing Im trying to tell myself.
SLOW DOWN!!!! Stop driving yourself in the ground!!! For WHAT!!!!! I 've taken the whole year to work on just that and feel Im coming to the peak of a wonderful discovery.

I have decided that if I am going to anticipate pregnancy next year, continue working with the horsefarm and painting furniture with my best friend I will surely make changes to fit all those things into my life. By subtracting those things that don't bring me complete joy...like sifting through some strangers belongings and getting into the nasty stuff that caused me a staph infection years ago (my Hoarders Anonymous clients) and bringing my body down over and over again to marathon organize at the same time I feel the desire to say YES to everything I'm asked to do...Im going to stick with what I said earlier in the year. No more! I will organize for a select few who truly need me, consult for everyone else and as the new year rolls around I have decided to offer productivity coaching as one of my services. As this has been something I have already done for years as a professional organizer and time management coach I only seek to help folks help themselves. I would love everyone I come in contact with to the know more joy with less stress, God's love and forgiveness and the comfort in their heart that they are enough. I have been encouraged by others who know me well and feel this is something I want to pursue. Not a life coach but a "get back on track" coach.
As I said 2011 is going to be a great year, I know it because He has planned it for me and I gave Him the reins earlier in the summer and that's that!

For more information on The Happiness Project
visit http://www.happiness-project.com/

New Organizing Show on Style!

Most of you are familiar that during the week I was promoting a friend and fellow professional organizer here locally in the Birmingham area named Amanda LeBlanc. Her company, The Amanda's, self-titled 30 min reality show special just aired last night and I am so exciting to see what is next for her.

In the spirit of Jeff Lewis, Amanda tackles everything with precision and nothing less than perfection. Her attention to detail and ability to assemble a team that mirrors her expectations does her great service.

I think that in the history of "organizing" shows it has been very obvious that the entire segment was masterfully produced and the "professionals" are actors. I have had to do a double take when I've seen them in a commercial or hosting another show.

The Go -to Guy from Clean House, a comedian. Both Trish and Neicy, actors. I miss Linda Cooper- Smith, she was authentic for sure. But one thing was clear, it was not necessarily all reality done in a 36 hour period. Weeks and weeks of planning go into each and every show.

The Amandas is a more accurate portrayal of what we professional organizers do. We enter each consultation with no idea what we are walking into. In every situation there is going to be something unexpected that takes place throwing you off your original plan of action. It is a professional organizers responsibility to manage the project from beginning to end. There is no getting exhausted and quitting til its more convenient. It has to be done. In order to manage an extensive team of support, organizers have to be optimum time managers. Some folks may take Amanda's approach at dealing with her staff a tad too rigid. But it is that exact quality that makes her team a success.

As an individual organizer who has had assistants from time to time but never a full time staff, I in no way represent that I could manage a "staff" of support. So hats of to her for that feat alone. When we lived in Montgomery I taught at a local college a class on interior decorating that gave me an intern for one week each session. I would plan my "messy room contests" around when I would have my interns each year. Subbing out work to other organizers can be even more difficult because you are managing someone who has no loyalty to your business.

I am most proud of Amanda and her team of professionals. She is what I consider "Big Time" and certainly one of the prettiest organizers across the country. Some folks just really work well on the small screen and I believe it does suit her. When you do what you love your enthusiasm shows through. Having been a person who has had much and lost much I tend to forget at times that she really has experienced the "ultimate purge" as she said in her show.
Losing everything, literally everything, in Hurricane Katrina little more than 5 yrs ago now. How can you not listen to her discuss her desire to help folks with their  unhealthy attachments to "stuff" and not take it to heart.

I'm behind her 100% of the way! I am happy to see the real organizers stepping up and getting the spotlight. Those like myself that do it because we were born to do it, not just because it's the newest trend, some new get rich quick scheme, or someone who just wants a "side job".  I look forward to seeing more and if you would too let the Style Network know it! If you missed it I have included a link below to go to clips of the show.

http://www.mystyle.com/mystyle/videos/v91519_the-amandas-ultimate-purge.html

Don't miss it!!!!

There are folks that are just made for TV and my friend and fellow professional organizer, amanda LeBlanc, is one of them!! please don't miss her reality special premiering tomorrow night on E's Style Network!!! If you like the show....let Style! Know!!

 

 

 

Local Company to have 30 minute Reality Special on the Style Network

 

Birmingham's own, The Amandas Professional Organizing, will be featured in a 30 minute reality show special on The Style Network November 17^th at 11pm/10pm ct.

 

The special will follow owner and organizer extraordinaire Amanda LeBlanc and her team of organizers as they transform the life of one lucky family.

 

 

For interviews please contact:

Dustin Canez 205.970.1087 or

Amanda LeBlanc 504.234.7197

 

 

Meet Amanda LeBlanc

Amanda is a certified professional organizer with the skill and passion to help people across the United States get organized. Amanda set out in 2003 to help people achieve their goal of organization and she has been raising the bar ever since.  She is a member of the National Association of Professional Organizers.  As a member of NAPO, Amanda serves on the Education Committee as Task Team Manager, the Associate Committee as well as serving as a chair of NAPO’s Strategic Task Force.  She is also a member of the National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization Toastmasters International, and the Vestavia Hills Chamber of Commerce where she currently serves as an ambassador. Amanda is active in the community donating material and time for Habitat for Humanity and the Birmingham Junior League Bargain Carousel.

Amanda’s team of organizers, affectionately known as The Amandas, have 25 years combined experience organizing homes across the Southeast and the Czech Republic.  The Amandas appear regularly on morning shows in both Birmingham and New Orleans giving tips and suggestions to viewers.  The Amandas have been featured on HGTV.com, Birmingham Home and Garden, Birmingham Magazine, Women’s World, as well as many other regional and national publications.

Amanda, her husband Dr. Dan LeBlanc, and their children currently live in Birmingham, Alabama.

 

Victory and Privacy

My husband and I have been at odds lately over my content. My recent blog when I asked my husband his first thoughts he said, "It's good but not your best". I sensed a little frustration and after he preceded to break down two beds and swap their rooms I discovered why. I know I'm hard to live with, I fully expect that so urge him to express himself but this....let's just say I wasn't prepared. But I thought about it, I was gonna figure it out on my own.

Having been a blogger for the past 4 years with http://www.onlineorganizing.com/ I had always focused every piece on organization. As a new "stay -at- home/work-from-home" mompreneur I was sharing what I was learning. I shared all my time savings tricks and tips from my kickin it old school 50's housewife mother Betty. And a few tried and true practices by Grandmother Lula herself. Not only did I want to be a great advice giver of efficiency I also desired to balance burning my candles at both ends. Why could'nt I do it all!?!

In June of this year, for the very first time, I shared personal pieces over the breast biopsy they had attempted two times and the surgery that followed. That was a life changing experience for me. My husband was fine about the full disclosure and felt it therapeutic for me to do so. We have moved to a small town and my writing has become very mainstreet. How much do we share about our own lives. As it turned out I decided to share everything about that experience because I felt if it had been cancer I would want to document this all for some future reference. Okay, no cancer, praise Jesus,  life goes on to normal. But I put a lot of stuff out there...and it felt freeing and warm. I released it. Like pieces of paper burned and tossed in the sea. Think there was a movie I watched in International Film Study at AUM that had that very scene. Marlon Brando and something about Tea.
Anyway, writing my thoughts allowed me to quickly process, decide a plan of action about how I'm going to deal with that feeling and then poof! Let it go.
So now we've moved on to talking about wanting a new baby. Now my husband isn't sure he wants me to put that out there. I must love and respect his wishes and I understand there should be some sense of privacy. My first reaction says okay no more baby talk "on-air" until there is one. But now I've been diagnosed with MRSA staph and well that's gonna change some things in my life, like... I'm thinking of going vegan. This blog is about making sense of my life and my business (aren't they really the same thing?).
I have to mention I'm also sensitive because I watched Zenyatta lose a 19 time winning streak and get beat by a nostril and a boy in the Breeder's Cup. No matter what she still goes down as the fastest filly of all time! Lots of expectations to perform placed on that horse. Never in history had their been a crowd of over 100,000 cheering fans and flashbulbs. Doesn't make her any less of a winner that she lost, she has talent.
So, while riding this big palomino today that has a kind heart and an old soul...we walked, and I thought, and here's what I got....

                     I'm gonna talk about wanting a baby; because I want one

                     I'm gonna talk about living with MRSA; because I live with MRSA

I'm gonna talk about being more organized; because I want to be

I'm gonna share my life; so I can testify to the glory of God

But I will only speak VICTORY over any of it!!!!

Actually, I can't take the credit for that last one...that was my husband's request after speaking to him about it. He hasn't minded the open window to our life just praise it and speak triumph over whatever the case may be. And I intend to honor it!!



Don't forget to Fall Back!

As we wake this morning to sunshine instead of darkness I feel anticipation like never before. I have been absent a little lately from writing because I have not had a direction that felt right. I have written a few blogs, some were a little angry because I was at the time, some too personal, some made no sense at all. So I have tossed the last three and am turning the page. One thing about living in a small town, you run into your blog readers at Wal-mart or carpool quite often.You know the people in your community. You go to church with them.  It has been a little difficult lately to write freely. To see so many contradictions in my surroundings, to witness behaviors that I would love to talk about in my blog but would reveal some one's story if I did. This blog is published in several different places weekly. Being able to talk to anonymous folks in the blogosphere is therapeutic but quite another story to put your business or your friend's on main street in Smallville, USA. I miss my anonymity.
 I say all that to encourage myself to publish this blog which is going to be extremely personal to me. To take the risk and put my life out there as testimony.

I live with staph,  I contracted it from a clients home many years ago and have battled it ever since. I wrote a 2 page blog a few weeks ago with the intention of getting that off my chest then. I manage my outbreaks, I try and take all the proper precautions to lower my exposure. I hate having it and would really just love to hold up in my house until it's gone but can't do that. After the surgery in June I had several infections and it took over a month to get past. Then after starting work back around the barn I had one come up on my thigh the end of August. It has left a scar. When an active infection hits I take care of it properly and get back on meds but they can sometimes make you feel weak and you tend to end up in the bed anyway. My energy gets zapped and I get all achy. Kinda like having the flu. Then there is the pain of the infection itself. Not to mention how it makes me feel around other people. I worry about how they will treat me, after all it's gross to me too.
This past Friday I had a small cyst I had developed a few years ago removed from my scalp and as precaution we decided on a round of antibiotics to keep me going strong. In this discussion of what to prescribe this time I found out the last culture from the wound on my thigh had come back MRSA. Hmmmm...first time I've ever been told that...always thought it was regular staph. Maybe it had been until just recently.
We want a baby, soon....MRSA always says "deadly" when you google it...and words like infant abnormalities...cesarean...all these words are popping up when I search "MRSA in pregnancy". But then other articles talk about all the advances in the medicines to treat it while pregnant. So we have to get ourselves educated for sure.
I am going to immerse myself in getting my immune system amped up. I'm going to talk to my doctor and do my research. I have been preaching for the last year that I am going to lower my stress, quit taking on so much, space out my work so I don't over do it. Decreasing stress decreases outbreaks.  I need a happy healthy functioning immune system. I have been "talking" for months about just consulting from here on out with Lula.To volunteer less help. But we all know I have struggled with that and haven't gained much ground. I am likely going to be making major changes this January concerning how I run my business. Its time to stop "talking" about making the change and DO IT!
Sometimes we have these great ambitions, these strong desires only to come up short with disappointment. I'm disappointed for sure that I can't live how I want when I want, but I have a strong foundation of family and friends to fall back on who will keep me well advised. We'll get through it and if a baby is in our future then I know God is watching over us and I have complete faith in His plan.

It takes Patience!

We are just coming off a 4 day camping trip to a bluegrass festival communing with thousands of strangers. Our first vacation without children in 5 years, we were cut off from communicating via laptop or cell phone due to lack of service. So off we went to have fun and create new bonds with new friends. It is rare to find a couple you get along with much less two other people that you could stand for 4 days of primitive camping with 5000 other folks, 7 1/2 hours away. It was a first for us but worthwhile for sure.
While sitting at the tent after sending our younger whipper-snapper friends out for the evening (because I can't stay out past midnite anymore or I turn into a pumpkin) we could sit back and talk. My husband took this opportunity to express some concerns. We want to have a new baby but I am unable to say no to anything that crosses my path. He fears the stress it will put on me if I stay at the pace I've been traveling at for the past few years. I  think we both know it is because I fear I will miss an opportunity. To do what I never know, but I've always been this way and that's that. Everyone that knows me well gets frustrated by this disability I have of not being able to say no. I keep saying I’m gonna stop doing it, but it doesn’t happen. I have been saying that for years and have not had a period of time where I said ok phone hasn’t rung in a month. Lets shut it down, I‘m gonna go be that housewife now! I want to be, but somehow JUST being that housewife makes me fear being ordinary. I know I am not alone in this sentiment as I do not want to offend those homemakers that do it with finesse. I truly inside WANT to be just a housewife! But then this inability to stop and smell the roses keeps me from it. I know my attention span is short but some weeks it is truly sad.  I just haven’t been successful in finding that perfect balance since I've been working from home for over 5 years.
I always try and keep the mentality that if I do a little bit of everything all at once I can maintain more over time. But I fail to realize so much of my day is already promised to other things. Just because there is a space on the day planner it doesn’t mean I’m free. It means that I very likely have laundry, dishes, cleaning the toilets, putting up the clean laundry, washing the dog, mailing bills, doing Lula paperwork, doing EASI paperwork, blog, radio stuff, class stuff….blah blah blah blah blah blah…2 days post vacation I am just as freaked out as ever over what has to happen in 48 hours. WHAT is seriously wrong with me!???? And I think I want to have a baby in the next 12-18 months??? Im NUTS obviously. It is like I have to have someone tell me just STOP! I asked my husband, after listing all the things I had gotten myself into in 24 hours, if that was “an extreme amount of stuff to keep up with in one day.”
His answer never fails…”Ya Think?”
Am I ever gonna be able to practice what I preach about slowing down?
Am I ever gonna be able to prioritize and balance my own life?
What do I even want?
Dr. Brene Brown states in one her speeches that we suffer from this busy extreme disorder to avoid being vulnerable. I totally agree. I think that when we create a perfect bubble of what all we can do and how much we can handle we are really trying to surround ourselves with this force field that nothing bad will happen to us. It never works out though. We all know those bubbles eventually burst and we have to deal with the pain and suffering. But as she suggests, if we have these reservoirs of “Joy” built up in our system we can bounce back that much easier from strife.
Joel Osteen is at this very moment telling me to talk to my mountains. Hmmm…I’ve prayed for God to help me figure it out but I’ve never actually talked TO those things that cause me anxiety. I think I fail to say no because I don’t want people to be disappointed in me. And when I have said no, usually it comes with some criticism or guilt from the person I say no to.
As I sit reflecting on my day of therapy lessons, grooming, packing lunches, dealing with a constipated child at the doctor who is going to need a flushing this weekend to clear him out, writing content for tomorrow’s class and Thursday’s blog I hit on one thing….
After working with this one horse at the therapy farm I have wanted to throw in the towel a few times after weeks of ground work because sometimes I step wrong and send him mixed signals from what his previous training was. I feel like there is this huge communication barrier sometimes with him and then I remember what I’ve been taught…it takes patience. I begin thinking …ya know, today was the first day that he didn’t flinch at me when I entered his stall. He didn’t mind me grooming him, he didn’t mind me being in his personal space. He seemed to lean toward me more and be more attentive to where I was going. A second one while laying down rested his head on my lap and breathed in my skin like we were good friends. I am starting to see that I am being accepted in the herd. I am trusted. It feels nice to see patience paying off.
As it is with everything else, there is no such thing as instant results. Like the patience I have to have with that horse I should have the same amount with myself. I know my inner nature and my previous training and it will take some time for me to stop flinching. I am going to keep shucking the dead weight even if it is just one thing at a time. I am focusing so much on taking it one day at a time that I forget it will all happen...eventually. It won't stay like this forever.  I can do this! I see clearer and clearer everyday what is important to me and where my passion and talents lie. Being able to focus on these things, being grateful for what I have and practicing patience I pray leads me to learning to say no to the things that do not bring me complete joy. Leaving me with only what I love and desire remaining in my basket.
De-cluttering your spirit is much like de-cluttering your home…it takes patience, it takes determination and it takes lots and lots of maintenance!

Can your commitment be renewed in one weekend?

Aaggggghh!!!! Monday morning! I sit in bed this morning contemplating the 5-6 pages I have started writing lists on in a small notebook beside my laptop. I keep thinking about what I witnessed this weekend and then flip flop to what I have ahead of me to accomplish before I leave for Arkansas Wednesday. I have to get some of this out of my head and onto the page. I feel a little anxious at the knew knowledge I have now. I am in fresh from our community’s Fall RefresHER Christian Women’s conference where I spent Friday evening and Saturday morning with nearly 75 women to grow and practice being present together in Christ.
Having a small performance with my bestie at the beginning of the conference I wasn’t really able to place too much expectation on the event as I was mainly focused on not throwing up a little since I was gonna be on stage…performing a Christian rap no doubt! We rocked it with a little adjustment here and there! I kinda knew we could do it but then anything can happen. I could have tripped on a mic cord, busting a tooth on the stage or something else just as embarrassing. I enjoy getting to do the things that were fun in high school and college like organizing events but “acting” was NEVER one of my talents.
After that was done…I was able to settle down and begin paying attention. God was there all weekend, working his hand in all that we did. It was really quite amazing. Most of you ( if you read me weekly which you SHOULD!) know that my husband and I changed our lives 5 years ago when we dedicated ourselves to Jesus and picked up our orders for purposeful living. I was amazed at the amount of peace in my heart. Most of the testimonies and speeches I heard gave validation to what I knew all along about how we should look at our opportunities. We really should see them as opportunities to delight the Lord. Just as I think I have also almost mastered trying to do that, I realize it is surely time to move on into something new. I know He is ready for me to grow and just like watching Jennifer Hudson’s “Behind the Music” I feel truly renewed and ready to embrace whatever the change!
On a side note -
Did you know that it was a natural disaster that took all the phone lines out in her hometown that prevented her peeps from calling in to Idol and voting for her another week? Did you know that she was the one who had to identify her 7 year old nephew’s body? And that her first performance back following that horrible ordeal was to sing the compelling song
“You Pulled Me Through” at the Grammys? A song she wrote BEFORE the tragic death of her brother, mother and nephew.

“You gave my faith back, faith was so hard to find
You gave me my life back, you were my lifeline
The love that you gave me is love that has saved me
Your strength is what made me strong
You held me and I held on”

“I held on“…wow!! I mean God’s grace is truly amazing! Look at her today. I sat this weekend, as the equally fabulous to Jennifer Hudson, Miss Kim Dunn led praise and worship for us. She spoke words from her heart that could only have come as a result of God’s finger dabbling in what was to be an extraordinary two days for us. I think all were moved, I know we all became closer and all felt refreshed in the spirit!
More than ever, I leave with the full intent to stop fighting those things that I realize now are just my natural tendencies, embrace those things that are really talents, stop trying to fit into other’s expectations of me and to truly find JOY in all that I do. As always I am committed to enjoying my now.
So where’s my right now?? Acccck!!! If I really think about it I will freak: a 20 person field trip; a radio show; a new class to begin teaching; another new class to begin teaching. In TWO days! We leave Wednesday evening to go enjoy 3 days of camping, good music, and better fellowship. I will return surely revived and ready to settle down and get back to work.
My mother asked me on the phone just last night…”okay now (most authoritative voice she has), when you get back??” Open ended to surely prompt my own reply first…I said “ I know, I am”. I understand, I have been scolded lately by husband and mother for the over committing that has been happening lately. I agree!