Just Jammin'

So a friend of mine invited me to an online Jamberry party. I had no idea I was getting sucked into a world of nail cuteness! I have extremely short nails (umm, maybe I'm a nail biter...) so I don't even bother to paint them anymore. But these nail wraps? Last way longer, and you can't even think about biting your nails with them on (could I finally be cured?!). With soo many prints & patterns to choose from, the possibilities are endless!

{Sorry, there's just no cute way of photographing your own hand, ha!} Mine lasted for about eight days before the tips started peeling. My friend said they last longer and are even cuter on toes. One thing I wasn't told ~ and it's probably not advertised ~ is that if you do have short nails, you can actually make your sheet of Jams go even further by cutting each row in half. Hard to picture but if you've worn them before then you probably know what I'm talking about. Just a way to get more bang for your buck!

And no, I wasn't given any incentive for this post ~ I paid for these myself and just love how polished it made me feel no matter what I was wearing!

Simple Shoe Organization

I am on a mission to get this house #organized. Or, at least, clear some of the chaos so that it doesn't look like an episode of "Hoarders" in here. I was going to wait and do one big post of organization projects, but two things came to mind: (1) It would be about 50 pages long; (2) It would take ten years before I got everything done and actually got around to posting it. 

So, I thought I'd post small projects & ideas as I go along. Pinterest is such an amazing tool for this kind of stuff, too. There is an idea for just about everything, and I always seem to wonder why the heck I never thought of it. 

I have some amazingly organized friends as well. This idea for shoe storage came from one of them as I was drooling over her pristine closet. Another "why didn't I think of that?" moment for sure! The Container Store has amazing shoe boxes for less than two bucks each, and maybe IKEA even has some cheaper. But they are awesome none the less! They stack easily yet still allow you to see what's in them: 

Unfortunately I don't have a before picture, but imagine every shoe in these containers on the floor. Seriously. 

I also bought boot boxes that stack up nicely, though I do still keep my "every day" shoes within easy slip-on access on the floor. I also love how the boxes keep them from getting dusty or scuffed, and I'm never without a matching shoe. {Am I the only one who has these issues?} 

Pretty simple, huh? 

2014, whoop whoop!

2014. Another year. Another chance to live life to the fullest, to live life how it's meant to be lived: willfully, intentionally, optimistically. Every year I seem to make a laundry list of "me" specific resolutions. By mid-year, I've forgotten what they were or given up because they were too lofty or time consuming. Or maybe because I was just lazy.

But this year I wanted it to be different. I wanted to go into the year not with an attitude of "this is the year everything's going to change and I'll become perfect." I wanted to be, if anything, more realistic. I wanted to think about how I can help shape myself to become a better person in the long-run, not just short-term. The start of a lifestyle change, not just a done-and-check-it-off-the-list thing. And I wanted J, my hubs, to join the journey with me so we could create a stronger life together ~ for us as individuals, as husband and wife, and as parents to our toddler.

So we chatted about it one night, and it was surprisingly easy to prioritize what was important to us. We narrowed it down to four:

1. Church
2. Budget
3. Monthly Date Nights
4. Clean Eating

I figured writing them on our bathroom mirror was a great way to keep them in plain sight. I like the idea of holding each other accountable without a ton of pressure or deadlines to do certain actions. It's all about creating a ripple that will hopefully lead to a better way of life for all of us, and something we can continue to build on year after year.

In fact, looking at these each morning has been quite calming for me. It helps me to see that J and I are on the same path, despite the chaos that sometimes is our daily life. And I can already see how these four things will flow into other areas of our lives as well.

Wishing you the best for this coming year, too!