Portable Office Part 1: The Components

A long, long time ago (in a galaxy far away....just kidding!) I started putting together a binder to hold my budget papers and bank statements to keep me a little bit more organized. Little did I know I was starting what turns out in bloggy-land to be A Household Binder. I started looking for some inspiration and came across IHeartOrganizing, a blog I have fallen in LOVE with!

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Her household binder is beautiful, colorful and just plain amazing! If you need help knowing where to start, check out her Etsy shop here: she offers printables that will help you organize! I got alot of ideas from her! From there she had a link on her post that sent me to A Bowl Full of Lemons, another great organizing blog. Seriously, these two blogs will help you whip your life into shape and give you lots of inspiration with their posts AND the posts from their readers that they feature! Her home management binder was very organized and helped me to finalize the tabs that I needed for mine.

But I was struggling with where to put it once everything was together! I have a file folder drawer in my desk that was in bad shape. I hardly open it anymore because the handle is falling off (and I would have to take everything out anyway to put it back on) so why keep anything in there anymore? So, I decided that I was going to take Lemon's advice and create a portable office!

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Here is what I came up with. Now I still have to print off a bunch of things (which is where part 2 of this post is going to come from) including a cover sheet, budget pages, calendar pages, a weekly breakdown of where our money needs to go, (since I don't make a set amount each week I need to be able to adjust quickly) but I don't have ink right now. So, I will post about the details soon, but for now - here are the components of my new Household Portable Office!

New (nicer) bag to come, but for now this one will do.

My expandable file folder (which replaced my drawer) on the right, my household binder on the left

Inside of my expandable folder: includes tabs for veterinary papers (sub-tabbed by animal's name), utility douments (sub-tabbed by company), rental agreement information, instruction manuals, pay stubs, tax documents, vehicle service documents, and the folders below. The pocket on the front holds pens and scissors, and there is a smaller expandable folder below that, which holds my old planner sheets, and new blank ones, and envelopes.

Folders - 2 sets, one for important documents (birth certificates, marriage licenses, etc.) and one for medical documents (receipts for services, information like feeding schedules, etc.)

Stay tuned for the reveal of the inside of my Home Management Binder! I can't wait to show you!

Get to Know me Series: Day 26

Welcome back to Day 26 of my Get to Know me Series! Only 4 more days left! I am hoping that since I'm trying to get my blog "out" into the world, that this will help you get an idea of who I am. On with the challenges! You can find a list of them here.

Day 26: You and a family member.

This is me, Hubby, and his grandmother, Natalie's great-Nana (or just Nana) back on our wedding day in 2009. We just love her for all the things that she has done and is still doing for Natalie and our family, from babysitting to buying her the coolest toys on the block! We love you, Nan!

Pinterest Day 26: Things you like and don't like about yourself.

LIKE:

My hair (though I am growing it back out, and am going to get my bangs cut and highlights put in soon!)
My face (when I have makeup on I look pretty good - not to mention I was blessed to get MOST of my pimples out of the way in grade school, so now I hardly EVER have to wash my face and I still never break out!)
My legs (for being a bigger girl I still think my legs look pretty good!)
My butt (ditto what I just said about my legs)
My hands and my perfect size 7 ring fingers (I can try on any ring in a jewelery store! FUN!)
My personality (I like to be positive and see others around me smile)

DISLIKE:

My belly area (obvious reasons - don't worry! Fixing that!)
My boobs (Hubby likes them - what guy wouldn't. But they're too big and they hurt my back)
My obsession with pleasing everyone and hating when people are mad at me
My ease in trusting people
My gullibility

See you tomorrow!

Weekend Planning Recap

So, this weekend was great! We said goodbye to the best year of our lives (so far) and ushered in a new year full of suprises and great things (hopefully) to come! I really think that each year is getting better and better, and after getting married in 2009, finding a great rental home and getting our two doggies in 2010, and bringing Natalie into the world in 2011, I wonder what is in store for us this year! Finally being homeowners? Maybe, but probably not. Moving? Nah. Another baby? No way! Whatever it is, I know we're going to have a great time!

Here's how my weekend went down.

Complete
Incomplete

Friday:

Laundry - Natalie's and mine
Work @ 4:00 pm

Saturday (New Years Eve):
Work on putting the finishing touches on my family binder - posting on this soon! I am so excited to be almost done! Just need to get ink for the printer so I can print off my pages!
Start sketching Natalie's quilt, and some scrapbook pages
Work @ 2:00 pm till 11:30 pm

Sunday:

Jets vs. Dolphins - ugh. Is it baseball season yet?

Monday:

More scrapbook planning/quilt planning
Heading over to Jess's house

Somewhere in there I'd like to:

Get my midnight kiss! - YAY! We gave Natalie a combo kiss and then I got a kiss from my Hubby. A great co-worker agreed to close for me, so I could go home and be with them.
RELAX
Clean up the house and do the dishes - carpets are cleaned with flea treatment, floors are swept, bedsheets are clean. I have a TON of dishes from my Christmas table to do (not used, just kitty hair all over them) before they get put away for another year. So sad. I really didn't get to enjoy them. ::sigh:: Maybe next year.

ADDED:

Dogs are bathed
All animals have flea treatments (I am DETERMINED to break the cycle! lol)
Started to plan Natalie's quilt
Laundry on Monday

Get to Know me Series: Day 25

Welcome back to Day 25 of my Get to Know me Series! Only 5 more days left! I am hoping that since I'm trying to get my blog "out" into the world, that this will help you get an idea of who I am. On with the challenges! You can find a list of them here.

Day 25: Something that means alot to you.

Thoughtfulness. Anytime someone stops me to tell me that they like what I'm wearing or that my baby is cute it makes my day. The other day a really good friend to me said, "You know when you smile, you are so beautful!" She almost made me cry with her kindness!

Pinterest Day 25: Something you're currently worrying about.

Our car. It's on its last legs...and I don't know how much longer it will last. Not only that, but we need it to last because we need to get a second vehicle and we can't have the first one crapping out on us!

Wow. Boring one! Tomorrow will be better!

January Sponsors!

Happy New year! I am super excited to be sharing with you my official first sponsors post! This month I bring to you two wonderful websites for you to view!

First up is Shabby Apple!

I love their products! From dresses to earrings, kids clothing to maternity wear, they have it all! If you click this link it will take you to their shop and you can look around!

And then here's Lacey from Little Miss Nerd Girl!

Hello friends of You, Me and Natalie! My name is Lacey and I am the blogger behind Little Miss Nerd Girl. I blog about the everday adventures of being a stay-at-home mom to my three kids: Irelyn (5), Chloe (3½), and Grayson (2½). I also blog about my husband David (we celebrate out ten year anniversary in April!), being a full-time student, things I cook, things I bake, and things I create. I hope you'll hop on over to my blog and share some of my adventures with me!

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Here is her facebook and twitter pages! Like her, follow her! I promise you won't be disappointed!