Introductory to a new year and change

Hello, and welcome to 2020.  This post is in place of the Motivational Monday I usually have for a Monday post.  I will start back to regular Motivational Mondays next week.  There is so much to see and do in my life until I have to explain it along the way.  Before I get into today’s topic, let me revisit a few things:

2019 the year of mystery and misery…

Not true.  I will admit that I had a bad year, but who hasn’t.  I am going to tell you right now that as long as you are going to be alive, you are going to go through something.

2019 was a year of first-time losses in a very long time.  The last person I lost that was close in my family (meaning biological) was my grandmother.  This was 2003.  In 2019, I lost an aunt in Indianapolis, IN.  she just turned 84 in September.  She was my uncle’s wife, who is my mother’s brother.   The second person died Monday, December 30^th.  She was my mother sister who lived in Bessemer, AL, she was 79. So, as my brother would tell me on the phone yesterday, it is starting.  My mother’s siblings are dying, but I do not look at it that way, as we are all dying.  We do not know when and how we are dying.  The moment that a baby takes its first breath, on second thought, when it is conceived, that baby is dying.  It may live to be born or not.  A friend of mines baby did that 6 years ago.  She died the moment she was born. Then again, that baby may live to be 100 years old or more.  It all depends on how it is taken care of by the parents and other caregivers, and how they decide to take care of themselves once they turn 18 years old.

Photos from Pixabay;
Arranged by P. Lynne Designs
(c) 2020

2019 was a year of self-discovery.  As I get older, I am learning what is tolerated by me, who I let into my life, and how I handle the situations that are thrown at me.  For instance, It has been a challenge to deal with my parents getting older, especially my mom.  She is holding on her own, but I feel that traveling is a challenge for me, rather I invite the family to come or not.

Back in May, I finally booked that Walt Disney World vacation I have been trying to get the family to go on for years since me, my parents, and my eldest nephew, who was 11 at the time, came back from Southern  That day in Anaheim was a blast.  While me, my mom, and nephew spend the day at Disneyland, my father, who is not a Disney fan spent time at a Dodger’s game.  Perfect timing. My brother nor sister did not go.  My sister could not go because my middle nephew was 3 months old and not cleared to fly.  My brother had to work.

California, and spending time in Temecula, Los Angeles, San Bernardino (where the family lived for 6 years), and Anaheim where Disneyland is located.

I decided to plan the Walt Disney World trip after the first of the year, 2010, but since then, things and situations had come up over the years, including my mother’s illness.  I had to continually cancel a booking after booking and even allowed Disney to cancel a couple for a lack of commitment on my part.  I made the announcement at the beginning of 2019 but kept putting it off.  This coupled with the opening of the Galaxy’s Edge in Disney's Hollywood Studios, which drew a lot of people, I did not want to be standing in long lines for one ride.  So, I booked for us to go from December 15-20, 2019, in a 3-bedroom Grand Villa at Bay Lake Towers at the Contemporary Resort.  Everyone was excited, except dad, who I had to try to ask in a nice way if he wanted to go to Florida, which would automatically land him at Walt Disney World. Well, that did not pan so good.  I will mention in another blog post what happened (Hint- At Home with Tricia's Baskets)

It is little things like that which made me wonder if 2019 was a bad year, but really it was not.  No one has threatened me, threaten to take anything away from me, and so forth.  My health was pretty good. So I postponed one little trip?  A year is what you make it, good or bad.

Now finally for today’s topic 2020.

I want to take the last few moments to talk about this year 2020.

Business dealings 2019 and the coming 2020

I finally did it.  P. Lynne Designs is splitting up.  This is how that is going to happen.

P. Lynne Designs is going back to its roots.  I started this company as a creative company.  Creating stationery products such as greeting and note cards, invitations, business cards, bookmarkers, and anything related to them.  However, I am not going back to scrapbooking.  The reason is quite clear.  The industry itself has changed and has incorporated digital to its core lineup.  In the wake of Snapchat, Instagram, Pinterest, and Tiktok, it is hard for me to keep up while handling these items and my other business.  If a person requests it, I will do one for them, but it is not going to be the main product of my business anymore.

Speaking of my other business.  I will admit that I have felt the loss of running two businesses.  Before it was being a Longaberger Home consultant (which is coming back in a new way for the moment via QVC), and P. Lynne Designs. It was fun doing the juggling act.  No, I will not be a consultant for another company.  Although it was fun, I was not getting commissions like I would want it too, because I had too few customers in comparison to other home consultants.  This has to do with my blogs and the freelance writing side of P. Lynne Designs. The new company is called The Writing Grove, and this is where I will take on clients who need something written for their business or personally.  I will also house the blogs, At Home with Tricia's Baskets and My Ambiance Life (which I am thinking about changing the name to The Writing Grove). The P. Lynne Designs blog will be with business, P. Lynne Designs.

There is a third business that will allow for affiliate marketing and content sponsorship, but it will serve both companies, so it is not an official company and it will not be registered with the State of Ohio.

Speaking of which, my name renewal for P. Lynne Designs is coming up in April, although I have up to that time to pay it, and I will be registering The Writing Grove at the same time.   Unless it has gone up, that is around $100 for both companies (or $50 each).

2020 personal

Lastly, my plans for me are simple.  I am finally going to try to adopt a child.  I know, dealing with a child and a business is going to be rough, but I am up for the challenge.  I also want to take home my friend’s babies.  I also hope to find a nice guy.  Yep, love life to which I currently do not have.

Photo by Annette Meyer from Pixabay

Personal buys I would like to make.  A new home and a new car.  About the new home, I have been talking about this since I moved out of my last apartment, which was 2002.  Yes, I live in this amazing condo that I did not intend to stay for more than 5 years, but it has been close to 20 years.  I want a home where I do not have to worry about stairs.  I want a larger kitchen, a dedicated room for my craftroom, which I will have in the current condo when my nephew and his girlfriend move out, but at the present moment, I have a corner in the dining area.  This is more than what the average crafter/business owner could ask for.  I also prefer not to share my garage space.  I am sharing mine with the neighbor upstairs, and sometimes they irritate me.  The other day, my nephew was unloading something from his car, and in the middle of his unloading, the neighbor’s father came down and closed the garage door, without asking.  I could not tell him to leave the garage door alone because my Spanish is rusty, and he does not speak English at all. Gone are the days when I could tell my neighbor to leave the garage door up.

As for the new car, I am currently driving a used 2008 Dodge Caliber.  This car was an emergency buy because I had an accident in 2015 with my 1998 Honda Accord.  This car was only supposed to get me through the fall and winter of 2015-16, but I elected to keep it for a while and shop for a car payment that I could handle.  For a while, I was dead set on getting a Honda CR-V, a year behind whatever current year.  So, if the current year is 2020, then I would get 2019.  Well, I rode in my friend’s car, and I could not help but think how big this car was.  I mean, the only thing riding with me would be my child (unless I get siblings), and my business, so I switched to an HR-V, which is much smaller, easier to handle, and it is still a Honda, plus it is the same size as my Caliber.  Next thing I knew after making the announcement that this is what I am going to purchase or lease, my father thinks that I am better off with a 2020 Hyundai Kona, like the one that one of the older ladies at my church drives.  I got irritated with that.  So, now, I am supposed to test drive both the Kona and the HR-V. My money is still on the HR-V, but I am open.  He also does not want me to lease, even though he has been leasing his cars for years.  OooKay?

2020 Blogs

I will tackle this in the next post.  I have spent too long talking about the other stuff, and I am close to the 2000 wordmark, which is a tip, this is actually small in comparison to what was the 1000 wordmark for most blog posts.  I will have the normal Motivational Mondays, only it will be on all three blogs.  My Ambiance Life blog, everything will be about the same for now.  I will mention on At Home with Tricia's Baskets what I am going to change on that blog, as well on the P. Lynne Designs blog as well.

Well, this is long and drawn out.  I hope I did not bore you.  I am really out to grab more readers and give you information on all things writing, creating blogs, journaling, and other things related, like planners.  This is going to be a fun year, I can tell.  Until then, check out the rest of my blog posts from 2019 and before.  May God bless you, and peace out.  

Trust in Me

Trust is one of the hardest things for a person to do to another person.  It takes on so many facets of life.  Trust in a parent to take care of a child, a trusting friend who a girl to tell secrets to and that friend will never tell a living soul or even a patient on the verge of dying trusting that their doctor and their family will make the right decisions on their behalf. 

Yes, trust is that word which says, “I put my life in your hands, and you are not going to let nothing happen to me no matter what.”

 So, what happens to that trust?  That is what I am going to talk about today.  So, “trust in me” as we talk about trust.

What is a trust?

Trust. created by P.Lynne Designs
Through Canvas.com

Under social context, according to Wikipedia, is “Trust has several connotations”.  The one I will be concentrating on is the one that says, “a situation characterized by the following aspects: One party is willing to rely on the actions of another party; the situation is directed to the future.”  Do you see why I used the previous examples in this piece?

The reason for this post

Lately, I have been disenchanted by the way things have been in this country, specifically the last couple of weeks.  No, this is not a political post, which would have included a campaign for you to vote for this candidate or hate another.  We all have our reasons for voting and supporting the person who we think is better to run the country.  No one is perfect.  It all goes back to trust, and trust does not need a campaign slogan to be heard.  Later, I will tackle “the art of advertising and influencers”, part 2 and conclusion of a miniseries.

Disenchantment be damned

Like many Americans, three weeks ago, on a Sunday, in the middle of the summer season, I was sitting down with my mom at my parent’s home.  My family and I usually take Sunday as a day of rest, to worship God by going to church, coming back to my parent’s home, eat and rest.  We talk about things that went on during service.  We are United Methodists, part of the Protestant Christian faith.  We believe in the Holy Trinity (God, Son, Holy Spirit), with the Son being the savior by dying on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins.  We are to do God’s will, which is to love all mankind, no matter what their life is like, everyone can be saved.

I say that to say this:  whoever pulled the trigger on the people at that Garlic Festival was not acting in God’s will.  I am not saying that the person was Christian, but the actions of this person too were not the way that Jesus would act.  I am going to leave it at that comment for now.  Same with the incident in El Paso, TX, and Dayton, Ohio. 

The Dayton, Ohio incident was about an hour and a half from me, plus my brother lives there, so I feel more apart of that incident than the El Paso, TX one because of my brother, who, thank God was at my parent’s house in Columbus when the shooting happened, and I thank God that my Sis-In-Law, who was at home, was nowhere near the Oregon District.

So what does that have to do with trust?

As Christians, we trust that God will take care of us, no matter what.  We also trust that the people who did not make it in these incidents over the past few weeks and beyond had a purpose to teach so that others will learn of our mistakes. 

This next thing that I have to say may turn some people off, and that’s okay.  Maybe this country and this world need to learn a lesson or two.  No, do not misquote me.  I grieve for every single person, including the people who pulled the trigger.  We have been too loose with the second amendment, “the right to bear arms”. This to me is the NRA’s Motto, but there needs to be an amendment to the amendment.  You do have the right to have guns for sport and protection, BUT if you want to do harm to anyone (including self) because of hatred or mental illness, you do not have that right, period. The second amendment does not apply to you.  Before you can purchase a gun AND own a gun license you must go through a deep background check and take a class on gun safety.  This is how you can build trust.  I think that is what those who have died in the name of gun reform have taught us.  Yes, it is gruesome, but someone became a martyr because of gun control.

On top of that, Japan, and other countries are now telling their citizens to stay away from us, and do not visit the United States at all.  Now that is deep.

Conclusion

This is a short post (less than 1000 words) because there is nothing more to say on this kind of trust except to:

• Be aware of your surroundings
• Use the buddy system whenever you can
• If you carry a concealed weapon with you, make sure that the safety is on, have your license on you, and that you are of sound mind IF you have to use it.
• Never carry it in a building that does not allow on in it.
• Never escalate an argument with anyone.  Or finish one for that matter.  Get the proper authorities if someone is bothering you.
• Report anything suspicious.
• Finally, be at peace with yourself, God, and try to love everyone.

I pray that everything goes well with you. God bless you.

I Am Looking Back and Remembering My First Blog Post as a Blogger

Photo byPixabay 

My very first post on my P. Lynne Designs blog.  My Ambiance Life is not the first blog I started.  The evolution of my blogs goes like this:  MDN Creates.  This started as a hodge-podge like a blog that covered topics such as “What heck am I doing” to “I got this, but it is time to split the blog because there are too many different topics on here”. That last topic I owe to my friend, who told me that I was covering too many topics on the blog.  The first post was an introduction to me and the blog itself, so I will not reminisce on that topic.  Nothing much to reflect on.  The next post, the one I will be commenting on was dated January 5, 2009, was titled Resolutions, and again, it was before I separated and divided the blog into the three blogs you know of today. 

Reflecting on Resolutions

As I am reading, I am first reflecting on how much I have grown as a writer in the past 10 years (January 1, was my anniversary).  In order to get anywhere, you need a starting point.  The only things I knew at the time in regard to blogging was;

1)      This blog had to be interesting to grab a reader’s attention to the point where the reader cannot wait until the writer puts in a new post. This means that I needed an interesting topic and the content of that topic is not of your typical, boring textbook variety

2)    Consistency is the key to all, even though I have not always reflected that consistency.  I am getting better.

I also had a moment or two, where I reflected:

·        I started the blog (now called P. Lynne Designs) at a time when Oprah was still on the air.  In fact, I referred to something she said on her show.

·        I mentioned that I had goals in 2009.  They were: 

o   To organize

o   To stop beating myself up

o   To love me more

o   To do more of what God asked of me

o   To scrapbook more

o   To take my business more seriously

o   To take time for me, to learn, and to grow.

·        I mentioned each goal and how I would do it.  Now I am finally going to give you an update on those goals in a moment.

·        Joel Olsteen came up in the conversation about never be still.

·        I submitted an article to Associated Content.  I am not sure what the results of that were, I am a terrible person in the art of follow-up.

Some of those moments made me cry.  Why?  I get extremely emotional at times or there is something in my eye?  I love gushy moments like this, and this is one of the reasons why I started blogging and journaling in the first place, to not hold it in.  I have gotten better on where to channel my anger, but that does not mean I do not get angry anymore.  That is like taking an emotion away from someone.  For someone like Abby Lee Miller to tell a dancer to save their tears for their pillow or to tell a boy that men do not cry does not do it for me.  Yes, there is a time and place to cry, but if you must cry, do it right there and get it over with.

So, back to my reflections on resolutions….

I mentioned that the post was long.  Why did I say that when the average post is supposed to be at least between 1,000-2,000 words?  Yes, back in 2009, “Resolutions” would be considered a long post.  No one knew exactly how long a blog post had to be at that time. Experts used to mention that anything blog post beyond 500-800 words is a fairly long post.  Another reason for that statement is back then the experts thought that such a lengthy post would give way to repeat phrases and ideas, and you cannot and should not repeat what you said 5 minutes ago unless you are summarizing.  

Summarizing a post

When I summarize, I call them TAKEAWAY MOMENTS.  During this time, I am telling you again what I said throughout the piece, or I am giving you little nuggets of information that should help you should you be going through what I have been through. I start out by reminding the reader of my topic then I sprinkle in the repeated information that was mentioned in my blog post.  When I repeat, I often remind the reader what is important, and I try not to sprinkle in the fluff.  Finally, I concluding with on a bit of advice to carry through.

What has changed since Resolutions?

This is an update to the goals I mentioned in “Resolutions”. Not only has my writing changed from that post, but the goals as well.  The most noticeable change is the blog name.  It is now P. Lynne Designs and it reflects that on the blog when you first click on the blog post.  It is about the change again soon because I am working on my website, P. Lynne Designs, and new posts will be going in the blog section on the website. It has been a good ride on Blogger, but I have grown, and my writing has grown. At the moment, I have a coming soon on the website, but you are welcome to signup to be on my mailing list to be notified when the website is coming.

Also, the niche has changed.  It is no longer a hodge-podge collection of what I feel like writing.  I own that splitting the blog up into bite-size pieces.  My Blessed Life (now known as My Ambiance Life) is part of the split.  So is At Home with Tricia's Baskets, a combo of former blogs Simply Organized Crafts (which is now ONLY a Facebook page), Traveling to the Mouse’s House, and Tricia’s Baskets.  These two blogs will also leave the Blogger Home for WordPress.  The foundation of the blogs are there, I need to start the final setup and launch.

Updating my goals since that date

Since I wrote that entry, here is what has transpired:

•         To Organize:  well, I am not totally organized to that point.  I can receive company now, even though I was always able to receive company.  When you are in possession of things, even things that people agree you should have or not have, you want to make them presentable and so not messy.  I was on the side of messy, and even though people had places to sit, hold a conversation and eat my food without feeling ill to the pit of their stomachs, I did not feel comfortable without someone saying something.  That may have been my OCD kicking in at the time.  As my pastor puts it quite eloquently, I am an extrovert introvert.  More on that in another post.  If you do not understand, try not to overthink it for now.
•          The next three I will tackle together; To not beat myself up, To love me more, To take time for me.  This does not mean I was harming myself.  When I do something that was a mistake, I am harder on myself more than anyone.  I am constantly saying why did you do that.  To love yourself means, do not get upset because you are not married, you do not have children, or you are not a certain status in life.  Just because you see someone who has those things that you desire does not mean you do not have to say things like, “I wish”, “Why did this happen”, “why was I not more intensive”, or “if only”.  That ship has sailed, or it has not come to you.
•            Scrapbooking More.  Actually, that has slowed down a lot.  Since that time, I have created one scrapbook album for someone in 2018, a lady at church. The reason was around October 6, 2010, a little company called Instagram got started and paved the way for scrapbooking the traditional way obsolete.  Instead of sharing scrapbook pages you have made with the photos you took, you share them on an account.  No one was asking for an album to be made because they can make them on the phone and in an online account. Not only that, there were people who asked me at work why to make albums when all you are doing is wasting paper and making the world a bad place to live.  Please do not get me started for there are worst things a person can do to desecrate this world than making a project out of paper.  I shifted my focus more to making cards and learning how to turn my skills into freelance writing, graphic design, and projects.  This lead to;
•          Taking my business more seriously.  No explanation there, except I am still learning.  This also leads to-



Photo by Pixabay

•           I am still learning and growing to better myself and to teach others.  I keep mentioning that in a former career move, I was once a preschool teacher.  While I may never find myself teaching anyone (children or adults) full-time again, I enjoy learning more so I can teach.  Last month (June), I was thrown into being a teacher’s assistant for my church’s Vacation Bible School.  I actually had double-duty.  I was the assistant director and a teacher’s aide.  One of the teachers ended up in the hospital before VBS got started, and since no one volunteered to be a helper and substitute for her, I volunteered.  Even though it was for one week, I enjoyed listening to the children (ages 4-11), and it reminded me of why I chose to be a preschool teacher in the first place.  Every once in a while, take in the small moments on why you started something in the first place. For me, it was the love of children, and watching how they process things and ideas. I will have a whole blog post on why I quit my teaching job later

Conclusion and takeaways

If you are a blogger, I suggest that you take a look at your first blog post to see how much you have grown as a writer.  Even if your blog is only a few months old you will discover in that few months’ time how much you have grown as a writer.

If you are not a writer but do not know where to begin, start with journaling.  Once you are in your comfort zone, try to expand your writing.  It does not have to be a blog, but I can tell you right now that sharing in some compacity helps you to grow.  Also, sharing helps you to be mindful on your writing skills.  If it a journaling post you do not have to share every detail of your life. 

If you do start blogging, use a program like Grammarly (a program I use and love).  Grammarly is a free spell checker and grammar checker.  Grammarly also comes in a premium subscription too.

Finally, if you share things like goals, it makes you more accountable than to say them and forget them.  Work on those goals and update your readers.

Until next time, take care of those things that matter to you, which include those persons in your life that matter to you.  You matter to me, so, take care, and God Bless you and your week.

July 15, 2019:  PS- Please share this post

Blogging is hard-Chapter 2: Making a schedule

Hello, and welcome to My Ambiance Life.

In today’s post, I want to take about blogging in general, not how to get started, not how to win at increasing traffic, but blogging in general.

Myths in blogging…

One of the myths I get when I am reading post from Pinterest, searching on Google, or anywhere else on the interwebs (Internet), is “blogging is dead”, “no one is interested in blogs anymore”, and phrases like that.

I am here to tell you that the way blogs got started might be dead, but the overall concept of blogs is not.  In fact, blogging is very much alive.  This is how blogging works for me….

You can do the following with a blog:

·         Use it as a follow up to a video

·         Offer products with the blog:  Talk about your subject, offer a free product (say a free guide), then if you are able, offer a course to further talk about your subject.  I have seen it a lot and it is something I am thinking about doing in 2020.

o   An alternative is to offer a service like freelance writing or graphic design service.  This also works if you are an organizer or party planner.

If you feel that your blog is dying a slow death, these ideas and many more can help bring new life into your blogging experience.  I not necessary say bring in traffic but help spruce up your blog.  Perhaps you are on a server that is limited, like Blogger.  Now I like Blogger and it is good for those who want to get their feet wet into blogging.  I have outgrown Blogger, as I have mentioned many times before.  I am also not a programmer, so Joomla, which is a website language that I would love to learn how to do, but WordPress is my go to language for the moment.  Maybe one day.  It is very easy to learn, and it takes no time to build up a website.

Scheduling a blog post, Part 1

I have learned something new in the past few weeks.  Schedule out your posts. There is a way for to do it on Blogger: 

1.       On the right side, you will see Post Settings

2.      Go down to schedule and click on it

3.      If you want the blog to post when you click on Publish, leave as it.  If not, click on Set date and Time.

4.      A calendar will pop up and you can click on a day of the current month or use two little arrows on the right side to advance a month ahead.  You can also click in the box for the current time or type in the time that you want.  Remember to highlight AM or PM.  Make sure you have the right time zone.

5.      Click Done when finished,

For WordPress:

This comes from WP Optimus (2014), but it still hold true today:

1.       Once you are finished writing your post, go to the right side of the panel of your post where the Meta-publish box is located. Click on Edit

2.      Set the date and time for when you want the post to publish.  The time will be listed as a 24-hour clock format, not 12-hours.  This is also called Military Time.  Ex. 1 PM is 13:00

3.      Click on schedule when finished.

Now you are able to schedule times for when you are on vacation, or too busy to write.

Scheduling a blog post, part 2

OK, the following was how to schedule when you blog post will publish to your blog.  Another thing I found out about scheduling is the art of writing when you feel the need to say something.  Christians call it, “God told me to tell you something that has been on my heart”.  Others say, “I have something to say, and I am not going to back down until I say it”.  Trust me, I do not have nothing to get “off my chest” (another saying).

We all have complaints.  In most Facebook groups I am in, it is having a rant, but there are tactful ways of complaining without getting chewed out by other.  I have learned the following.

1.       Do not say something just to get an audience.  In fact, do not expect for someone to respond with a “me too”, “I agree”, or “I feel the same way”.  Speak your peace and move on.

2.      If you journal, write the rant there.  You have gotten off your chest and you have left it in a place for you to see.

3.      Ask questions before you rant, especially if you are in a group setting. It is best to ask questions than to assume and get kicked out of the group.  You may still get kicked out, but at least you are not ranting blindly without all the answers.  Remember, there is no such thing as a stupid question.

4.      Calm down before typing

5.      If you are in a group setting and you are still angry, do not announce that you are leaving the group.  Just leave and let go.

When situations are treated with kindness, you will have a better result.

Scheduling a blog post, part 3: know when to write

OK, confession time:

I have set up all these day the type of themes I want to put in this blog.  Some weeks it works out great, while others, not so much.  It is embarrassing, and I do not have any hard copies to remind me of what I am supposed to write about.  For example:  I write my journaling prompts posts on Wednesday instead of Thursday, Motivational Monday becomes motivational any day, and so on.  The only thing that has been constant lately is that I do not write and post on Saturdays and Sundays.  I have a solution for that.  I am picking two days out of the week to write, posting them on the days that I pick (probably Monday and Wednesday or Thursday) Friday may be a bonus day, and I am scheduling them so that they automatically post.  Everything has been edited complete with pictures.

Why am I saying this:

My schedule is full, and I need to take time to do things carefully. 

My takeaway for this is simple:  take time for you.  I know I have mentioned some portion of that to you in the past few posts, but I am serious as always. 

Yes, I need an audience, clients, and viewers, but I also need me, and I need to continue my spiritual journey with God.

If you do not have that, then what is life.  I am not saying that life is meaningless, but your life has meaning and a purpose.  We all need to find that purpose and it is not always about making money.  I know I push making money, but you are not going to die if you do not make a 6-figure salary.  Make enough to allow you to save and to live on the daily.  This means if you need toothpaste, make enough to buy it.  Same with your home.  Make enough to afford a decent home for you and your family.  It does not have to be a 5-room mansion with a 3-car garage, it can be an apartment with a parking space, but not a one-room boarding house where all 6 of your family members sleep in it.  If this means you have stay in that one -room for a moment, fine, but aim higher.

In other words, you can change your situation.

Have a good day.

Motivational Monday Holiday Prep or How Not to Stress During the Holidays

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I am in awe of Black Friday.  It has never been my thing to get up at the crack of dawn, get dressed, drive with flyers in hand, and go to snag a deal.  You all seen the news:  fights and squabbles over basement bottom deals than any other time of the year seem too good to be true, yet we, as a western civilization do it every year.  I first noticed it when the Cabbage Patch Dolls first in 1982.  I wanted a Cabbage Patch Doll and begged my mom for one.  Then I watch the news.  Dolls were thrown like footballs, and women grabbing them left and right.  Some were sent to the hospital.  I finally got my doll, 6 months later.  My mom was not going in the dead of night to get a doll for me, but she and my dad promised that

I could have one.  The price was not the same, but I got my doll.

Nowadays, Black Fridays have been mostly about how to get television dirt cheap.  Computers, phones, and even the Amazon Echo Dots.  Some people have a whole ritual around Black Friday.  You do not have to stress like that.  Deals and cash backs are given every day, especially on sites like Ebates, Swagbucks, and Be Frugal. I will show you in my other blog, At Home with Tricia's Baskets.

Today, I want to talk about your mental health during the holidays.  Everyone knows that if you are not careful, the holidays can turn a happy time into a sad one, especially for those who lost loved ones before and during the year.  No one is expecting you to be cheery during this time.  They say the first year is the hardest, and it gets easier as the time goes along.  I miss my grandparents, and yes, I had a hard time of not receiving a gift from my grandmother in Alabama, who did not have to send presents to all of her grandchildren, but she did.  I miss how my grandfather was during the holidays.  As I got older, it seems easier to go on with life.  If you lost someone this year or cannot seem to go on with life after that lost from years past, talk to someone.  Also, find a person to connect to.  It may be a family member or friend, volunteer in a soup kitchen, help with a toy drive.  Find something, anyone that allows you to connect.  I am not an expert in grieving, but I have seen what it does for someone in need.

Now, let’s talk about your decorations and other things in the house.  I will talk more about it in part 3 on my At Home with Tricia's Baskets blog, but for the mental part, do not feel like you have to decorate to the nines.  If this is the way you have to decorate, that is fine.  I am not telling you how to decorate your home, but if you get to the point where it is stressful for you every year, slow down and take a pause.  Breathe, and ask yourself why are you doing this?  Maybe this is the year where you take a look at other people’s decorations.  Maybe this is the year where you get invited to enjoy family outside of your home. Maybe this is the year where you and your family give one present instead of 20.  Take a break from the annual Christmas party at your house.   

I am not saying do not decorate, give presents, or eat until you feel like a stuffed turkey. 2019 will be here, and if you are blessed to see a 2019 holiday, maybe plan in June what you are going to do for the holidays in December. Do not apologize either.  Everyone deserves and needs a break. 

Finally, let’s talk about planning.  I started a new Wednesday segment called journaling, and the holidays is the perfect time to start a little journaling.  This is what I call, Project Journaling. The holidays is a project, so why not do a planning journal on the experience.  This way, when it comes to planning next year, you can look back, so the same plans or tweak it a little.  The way I plan it I write out the even in Erin Condren life planner, then I get a journaling book (hardcover or soft, you can get one from Erin Condren or at DollarTree) and label it Holiday planning or something like that.  You can even jot down your feelings during this time.  When the holidays are over, express how you truly felt about the holidays, what you did right, and what you did wrong.  On what you did wrong part, do not beat yourself up about it, but talk about what you would have done differently and what you will do differently next year.  Not all holidays are perfect.

As I said in when I talked about grieving for a loved one, always make sure you put someone first, but also take care of yourself as well.  Destress with a bubble bath, a good book, devotions, or even volunteer.  There is always someone in need.  Give to a clothing drive, to declutter and make room for your new clothes, give away your old appliances to make room for the ones in the kitchen. Make your children part of this as well.  Any gently used toys could go in a toy drive.   Also, make plans for the new year as well.  It is always a good time to set some new goals.  Do not beat yourself up if you did not achieve the ones in 2018.  Incorporate them into 2019.

Have fun, but do not stress out.

Peace on Earth.

Preparing for a huge project.

Merry Christmas!!!

Yes, it is that time of the year.  Do you have your decorations in order?  Do you know what gifts you are getting your family and friends?  What about a tree?  Is it an artificial or a live tree?  Do you have your cards lists and handmade cards ready?

“Hold it one minute, The turkey has not fully digested, and you are asking me about my Christmas plans?” one might be saying.  “Wait a minute, I’m Jewish, I do not celebrate Christmas”, another person may be saying.  Still, another may be saying, “I celebrate the birth of Christ, so no Santa, elves, and mistletoe in my house”.

That’s fine, whatever, however you celebrate is fine, as long as you are not:

-    Overwhelmed

-    Fighting long lines for presents

-    Going with the status quo

You will be fine.  Trust me.  You will.  I am not an expert in this department, but I have news for you.  You do not, I repeat do not have to go through this alone. 

This Monday, December 3, 2018, I will have a 3-part guide of prep work to do for the big day.  It is a start, but I have one little catch, to view this guide, you have to read all three, and it goes like this:

•    Part 1 will be in the My Ambiance Life blog.  This is my writing blog.  Monday is usually where I motivate you in your writing and other subjects, and I have chosen to motivate the holiday you.  My purpose for you is to destress during holiday prep.  Life does not stop for the holidays.  I know because as I am writing this, I am also preparing for a craft fair at a school for next Saturday and finishing translating notes for a church meeting on this Saturday (December 1).  This is on top of everything I have to do for my business and my home life.  The holidays are just part of it.  I am sure you feel the same way.

•    Part 2 will be in the P. Lynne Designs blog.  This is my crafting blog.  I get back into the swing of things after a year of absence.  This is post will be about preparing for making cards and getting supplies together for that big day when you are making and distributing gifts.  I also have things for those of you who do not craft because everyone is not a crafter.

•    Finally, part 3 will be in the At Home with Tricia's Baskets blog.  This was my blog when I sold Longaberger products, and since they closed back in the summer, I have turned this blog into a home decoration, organizing, and family blog.  There is a little bit of travel in there too.  This post will be about prepping the house and family. Getting out a list of things to do, not only for the house but with the kids when they are out of school for the winter break.  There will be things you may want them to do to, especially if they are older.

So, your next question is, “do I have to read all three?” The answer is “no, you do not”. This is my mini gift to you as you are stressing about what to do next in your preparation for the holidays.

This is my first time doing a guide across all three of my blogs, and yes, I will be doing some follow-up starting with what I do to prepare for a craft show.  This is my first craft show with handmade products, but I have been in crafts show with Longaberger products, and I must say that I do admire the crafters and artisans that seem like they have everything together with their booths.

So, there you go, a huge project called holidays.  All I ask you is to enjoy the ride and relax.  You got this.

Peace on Earth.

Motivational Monday: Humility (or How to be Humble)

Hello, today starts what I hope will be a more structured blog.  I have been thinking about how to make my blog better for readers and I think I have come up with a solution to my problems with my blogs, Constancy and sustaining a topic.  The topics I have come up with for the rest of the year should be able to motivate you to try new things in the writing world, entrepreneurship (which includes possibly being an author of your own book), updating your social media posts and profile, and other things that will help you be a better you.

I will tell you in a later post on how and why I decided to change the theming of this blog, and I hope you bear with me as I decide rather leave this blog on the current platform or to switch to another one (WordPress or Tumblr).  I already have an account for both platforms, it is just a matter of what makes sense to me, my business, and my audience.

Now that I have gotten formalities out of the way, today’s topic is about humility or the act of being humble.

Most of my Motivational Monday’s will be on what I have heard the Sunday before in church.  I will try not to get too preachy or too much into what the scriptures say, but I am not ashamed of who I believe in, and I am not going to water it down, either.

This is my definition of humility:  to give of one’s self and to help others achieve their best self.  Now here are examples of that:

Say you are attending a PTA meeting (PTO in some places) and there is a call of action for volunteers at a bake sale.  New books are needed for the library because the ones that are there are torn and battered, and they need a little TLC. You volunteer for the bake sale and other fundraisers which are needed to put books on the shelves at your child’s library.  At the end of the school year, the president decides to recognize some hard-working parents and other family members of students, but your name is not mentioned at all.  Perhaps the president looked over you but given how many times you decide that you should run the many fundraisers that the school had, recognition was not needed.  You leave in a huff, and your friend, whose child also attends the school, ask you what the matter is.  You tell her that the PTA president did not say that she was so grateful for your efforts in running the many fundraisers for the school year, and you are not volunteering for another thing.   Is this an act of humility? This, by the way, happened to me when I was a teen, only it was not a PTA situation, but I volunteered to print off cards for members of the publicity team to hand out to people in recognition of their birthday during service.  Boy, did I get an earful from my mom, and I left out of the sanctuary in a huff because no one during service did not say, “and we want to thank Patti Logan for the printing of the cards.”  This was the humbling moment that I remember still (yes, I am still a member).

How about this:  The chairperson who runs the food pantry is looking for volunteers to help out with giving out clothes for a clothing drive or to donate clothes for those who need it.  You decide not to because you do not want to help out anyone who may be smelly, missing teeth, or should have a job lined up for them and going to work and besides that, your pink and purple dress does not belong on someone who is going to smell it up even more.  First of all, it is rude to try to figure out what a person does with the clothes and second, is this practicing humility?  Let these two examples marinate in your soul for a moment.

I have watched my mother all my life, including the times when we were in transit (Military term for waiting for your base housing).  She has taken people to go shopping, when the spouse has their car, or they have no car at all.  Tech sergeants sometimes did not make much money to afford a decent car, especially if they had a family.  I was friends with a girl a couple years younger than me, and not only they did not have decent clothes to wear, but they were being made fun of as well.  I could have done the same thing, but I did not.  Her stepfather was abusive because he did not have the money to feed her and her siblings (one who was a baby) and wife.  I think as soon as they moved, the parents were getting a divorce.  He even threatens to beat me one time for no reason.  Even when we moved to our present location, my mother has taken food to the sick, help out in our church’s food pantry, taught Sunday School and so forth, without complaining or crying about how much time she was taking time away from her own family.  We did not suffer from that humility.  Mom has never asked for payment for gas and sometimes will not take it if the person offered.  I try to do as much as I can without question too. I never ask for gas money. 

This is the art of humility.  I am not bragging about what I do, and I do not ask for recognition either.  I do not try to run things when something is already set up.  If the head of an organization ask for me to lead it, I make it a joint effort because someone may have better ideas then I do, especially if this is my first time doing it.  Sure, if someone wants to say I helped or say that I lead something, that is on them.  I will stand up and immediately sit back down.  I want the focus to be on the program or the event, not on me. 

Being humble also means excepting help when you need it.  Do not turn that person or organization down.  This is the part I have a hard time doing because I am so used to being independent, but sometimes I have to let people do their thing because there are so many people who do not and will not care for a person.  If that person sees you struggling, and they want to help, explain to them what is going on

if you trust them.  If not, except the “gift” anyway, thank them, and move on.  You may need that extra boost, pick-me-up, or that extra $10.  There are a lot of people who want to Pay it Forward.  It is their way of giving back.

There are a couple of scriptures that support on how God feels about humility, and the first one says; “Humble yourselves, then under God’s mighty hand, so he will lift you up in His own good time.  Leave all your worries with Him because He cares for you”. 1 Peter 5: 6-7.  The second one is, “When Pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom. Proverbs 11:2. Both verses mean you should not be so proud of yourself that you are not willing to help others.  You are given grace and God will lift up you to where you need to be in your journey.  Proverbs sums it up to say when you are humble, you will have the wisdom of doing the right thing for God and others and not for self.  There are more but I need another whole post to explain it all.  These two scriptures just spoke to me.

Takeaway:  I urge you to volunteer and help someone without saying a word.  You not only help others, but you will learn about yourself in the progress, and it does not have to be in a shelter, a food pantry, or school fundraiser.  You can volunteer by just encouraging others and give of your expertise without asking for anything in return.  That is the best part of being humble is when that return is not expected.

Have a good day, and God bless.