Working At Home

I work at home. I consider myself a stay at home mom first and foremost. I try to work when I can, which can sometimes be a struggle. Today I am sharing with you a glimpse into my every day crazy, my every day life.

This is what my floor looks like at any given time. This is what happens when your “Office” is in the same room as the toys. This is how I get work done with the kids around.

This is what my desk looks like on any given day, coffee for sure is always there, product for Sugarplum And Applesauce is there, and necklaces for Inspired For Five are always in the works, my day timer is always within arms reach!

Do you work from home? I would love to see what your space looks like! Share in the comments!

~ Michelle

29Aug2016

So Many Passions

Posted in Blog, Motherhood by Mommyhood Land Blog

Hello New Day.
Hello New Week.
Hello New Adventure.

Oh Monday. I have such a love/hate relationship with you. Monday for me is like a mini new years, in that I feel energized, motivated, hopeful, and dream big. But it is also Monday, and Monday can be a little mean. Monday is the Murphy Law of the week, if something can go wrong, it will. Yet every week my hopes grow, and every week… well Monday.

I have so many things I want to accomplish. So many plans. So many ideas floating around in my head. It is completely overwhelming. I have no clue where to start. I try writing out lists, but my lists end up having lists, and those lists have sub-lists, and it never ends.

I have so many passions and not nearly enough time. I want to do it all. And I will do it all. I just have to figure out how to manage my time so I can do it all. I love my blog. Its pretty awesome if you ask me. I love my first business I started, it has grown into something I never expected it to. Sugarplum And Applesauce is my baby. I found a new passion in my new jewelry business, Inspired By Five. And now I have a new passion I never knew I had, making wooden signs. I made two for my parents and I have so many more in the works. But it comes back to time. Everything takes time. Especially if you want something done right and done well.

Of course there is my biggest passion, and life calling, who I am, however you want to refer to it, I am a mother to three beautiful children. I love my kids. They drive me completely crazy but they are my life, and they bring me so much joy, and they steal so much sleep from me, but they are prefect and I love them.

So instead of setting out 10 goals for the week, I only have one. Organize my thoughts and ideas, and figure out which ones can be done first, and make an action plan to accomplish everything I want.

Being a mom is my first and most important job, but I still want and need to do other things and follow my own dreams and passions that don’t involve my kids. Which is easy enough to say, another thing to figure out the time, and whole other thing to get over the mom guilt of it. Yes there is mom guilt. I hate mom guilt. I have it all the time, and its stupid, and a waste of time I know that. However I still can’t shake it at times.

So this week, is about organizing my thoughts and ideas and passions. That shouldn’t take too long, right?! … I may need more than a week.

What do you hope to accomplish this week? What are your goals?

~ Michelle

22Aug2016

One Step At A Time

Posted in Motherhood by Mommyhood Land Blog

Hello New Day.
Hello New Week.
Hello New Adventure.

Oh, what will this week hold? What do I hope to accomplish this week?

I am starting this week out completely and utterly overwhelmed, filled with anxiety, stress, and I’m already tired. I want to think positive, I want to believe that this week will turn out completely wonderful. But honestly, thinking that positive just seems like a lot of work right now. But that doesn’t mean I won’t try. One step at a time. One step at a time.

So this week I decided to start writing out weekly goals again. I hope it will help me to focus, and relax, so I can accomplish everything I need to, and mostly so I don’t end up crying on the kitchen floor. (Why is it always the kitchen floor?!)

So my goals for this week:

Home:

1. Get on top of laundry. Laundry is seriously evil.
2. Nightly clean up. Some days, especially lately I am just too tired at night, but I always regret it in the morning.
3. Home cooked meals. Having home cooked meals every night helps everyone moods and not to mention everyones tummy!

Family:

4. Have more non-tv family nights. Movie nights are fun, but card game nights… those are hilarious.
5. Go for more walks. I miss walks. We haven’t go on many walking adventures this summer. And that make me sad. I like going on walks with my kids.

Personal:

6. Remember that I am only one person and there is only so much I can do in a single day.
7. Starting working out regularly. My workouts have been so random, most days I don’t have time, but I need to start making the time!

Work:

8. Focus on one thing at time. I have a million ideas, but I can’t do them all at the exact same time!
9. Clean up and organize my work space.
10. Step out of my comfort zone.

What do you hope to accomplish today? This week?

I really hope this week is a good week. I really hope my anxiety monster stays at bay. This week is going to take a lot of effort. I hope my toddler lets me sleep this week! If she doesn’t that possibility of me crying on the kitchen floor will most likely happen.

~ Michelle

15Aug2016

Lets Talk Dreams

Posted in Blog, Motherhood by Mommyhood Land Blog

Hello New Day.
Hello New Week.
Hello New Adventure.

Monday, lets do this. Today I am pumped. I am excited. I am hopeful. I am happy. I am blown away. Also I am a whole lot of anxious. But lets focus on the good.

I told you awhile back about my new adventure, following my dream, my new business Inspired By Five. It has always been a dream of mine to create and design jewelry. And now I am. I took the leap. Or rather my husband pushed me off the edge. Either way here I am.

I have a small circle of friends and family. I’m a major introvert and it takes a bit for me to let someone in. So like I said, my circle is small. So I knew starting off the new business with zero money put away for any kind of advertising I would be relying on my awesome family and friends to help spread the word, and hashtags. I love hashtags. And Instagram. Instagram and hashtags are sorta of my happy place. Any who…

Yesterday I woke up and chased my kids around like normal, wrote out my grocery list, and decided to check on my social media accounts. There waiting for me was an order. Not just any order but an order for two, yes TWO Sea Glass Necklaces! Dude, I was so excited. Like happy dance in my kitchen happy. That was quickly followed by another order! 3 orders in one day. I was truly blown away! I still am.

I dreamed of this, but still in my wildest dreams I did not think I would be here. You know? Its crazy, right?

So here I am, Monday morning. The morning after. And I am thrilled. But being the anxiety filled person I am there is also my anxiety cloud following me around. Especially because I sent out a package of two necklaces, and until I know that they got to their home sweet home, I worry. It gives me major anxiety. Last week I sent out two packages and I was a wreck till I got word that they made it. I never expected to feel like this. Actually I never thought about it all. But I guess it is something I have to learn to deal with.

So right now, I want to focus on the good. The happy. The excitement. All the warm fuzzy feelings.

I also have to adult. So I have to focus on this week and my kids. I have a what seems like 37938202873893048 appointments this week. This week is all about balance. Balance of looking at the big picture of everything that has to be done, keeping track of it all, working on my business, being a kick ass mom and wife, but also just taking it one day at a time.

Deep breaths.

I can do this. I will do this. I will totally rock this week!

~ Michelle

8Aug2016

I Want To Do It ALL!

Posted in Blog, Motherhood by Mommyhood Land Blog

Hello New Day.
Hello New Week.
Hello New Adventure.

What a whirlwind this summer has been! I can’t believe it is already August! Where as the time gone?

Summer is soon coming to an end. I have already done back to school shopping! I’ve been so busy with all the running around, errands, shopping, water fights, and such that my poor blog has been left alone. I have missed my little blog. My little slice of the internet. My escape and my release.

I don’t know what it is, but today I woke up with such determination to get so much done, and such a strong urge to blog, that I am just going with it. I must say, it is nice to be back.

Usually on Monday’s I write out To-Do Lists and goals. But today I just want to accomplish EVERYTHING that I don’t really have a list. If that even makes sense? See something amazing happened last night! My beautiful toddler actually slept all night on her own! This hasn’t happened in… well I can’t even remember when the last time she did this was, thats how long ago it was. So maybe that is the reason behind my sudden burst of energy!

Do you know what else could be behind my sudden burst of energy? My husband and I are planning a road trip in October. This will be our first real trip as a family of five! We have done Niagara Falls for a couple nights, but thats a few hours from home. This trip, we hope, will be a week long trip down to the states! I am equal parts nervous and anxiety filled, but also totally excited and over joyed!

I have a feeling today will be a great day. I will get a lot accomplished. Today will be a good day! I will make it a good day! I am not wasting my one night of sleep on a crap day!

So now to clean, organize, work, sew, make necklaces, spend time with the kids, workout, blog, read, run errands, meal prep, meal plan, and have a fantastic day!

What do you hope to accomplish today?

~ Michelle

18Jul2016

Inspired By Five

Posted in Blog, Motherhood by Mommyhood Land Blog

I thought that being a mom would be the scariest thing I ever did. And it is. It scares the sh!t out of me almost daily. But there is something else in life that I never thought would be scary and it ended up being so scary that it held me back for YEARS! Wonder what could possible have that much power over a person, well I will tell you: Following my dreams. Seriously. I’m not kidding.

Ever since I was a little girl I have had an obsession with designing and creating. Anything from clothes, crafts, houses at one point, but mostly, always, jewelry. I used to have notebook upon notebook filled with drawers.

Then I met my husband, then we had 2 kids in 13 months. Then I started Sugarplum And Applesauce. Like I said I have always loved to create and design. I’ve always loved fabrics. The different colours, textures, all of that. But still my first passion was always jewelry. But I held back. Why? Because it absolutely, without a doubt, right down to my bone, scared me.

I have held off on my dream for years. Far longer than I should have. But then I suffered a miscarriage, then I had a high risk pregnancy. Then I gave birth to my beautiful daughter. My family was finally complete. Those events changed me. Changed me to my core. Finally having my whole family here supporting me and encouraging me finally gave me the strength to push forward. To take the leap. To jump in. Whatever phrase you want to call it.

And thus, Inspire By Five was born. You can also find me on Instagram and Twitter.

Now that it is here, I am still scared out of my mind about it! I haven’t fully launched it yet. But still, it is out there. Out there for the whole world to see. I feel like not only am I showing people a piece of jewelry I created, but a piece of my soul. And that thought terrifies me.

I hope you will join me on this adventure as I turn my dream into a reality.

And if you have a dream, I hope you find the strength to follow it! Don’t wait! Jump in now! When you do, I will be here to cheer you on to and encourage you!

~ Michelle