Command Center

Inspired by a post that I link from I'm an Organizing Junkie

Budget Friendly Family Command Center

Here is my version of my command center: 

Its just near the back door and laundry room.

I always kept the main calendar in the kitchen, right next to my son's room and close to the refrigerator.

former location of main calendar

opposite the calendar the refrigerator

I've had the calendar frame for many years. I can't even remember where I bought it. It has a small hook to hang your calendar. But this time, I folded the calendar in half and made some holes to place it on the calendar frame. At the bottom of the calendar. I placed a white board. To write messages.  

I made rules for after school. 

Framed and placed on a small easel.

The bookshelves have been in the hallway for a few years. They have some of my books, binders, and other craft paper sorted in magazine holders.  The keys are in the opposite wall, where they always been. I decided not to switch them yet. 

The Calendar frame has an attached basket at the bottom. That's where I would keep appointment reminder cards, invitations, or any loose small papers.  I have a cubicle sorter right next to the door. That's where the kids would keep their backpacks. There is a space for me too. I will show you the picture later.

So how much did I spend? Zero!  I had everything already in my home. I  just figured out, a different way of using the items.

Pray

Every year, I choose a word to meditate on all year.  The word I chose for this year was Action.  I needed to Act on things that I had been procrastinating, such as my health, my home, my relationship with my husband and other relatives.

I did well all Spring, but then Summer came and things began to loose its joy. I fell back into inactivity.  Some days things did not get done.  Exercise got put aside.  A few projects that got started in the house have not been completed.

With school back in session, meetings, appointments, back to school shopping and other family events have kept me busy this past two weeks.  There are rooms in the house that looked cluttered.  Clutter makes the house look messy.  A messy house makes me feel, confused, overwhelmed.

I could ask for some assistance from my children, but now they have the excuse that they have homework.  I have always had problems getting my children to do chores.  I'm not a disciplinarian. I feel I have lost all hope trying so many ways to get my children to help me.  

I know that with some good communication and a good set up schedule, I can get them to do things.  I have asked my husband to help me in the parenting.  I feel that everything is left to me. All the household management, school activities, soccer practice.  I felt alone!

I understand my husband has a hard day at work. But its is important for him to spend some quality time with his children.  He also has a part in parenting.

A few days ago, I felt overwhelmed. I just felt I needed a break.  I need help.  I can't do all the house management on my own.  So I called on to God for help.

"Lord I need direction. I need guidance in being a good parent.  How do I get my children to help me with chores?  How do I get my husband to help with parenting issues? Show me what are the things I myself need to change in my attitude, and behavior towards my family?"

We all need God's help in our life.  He is the only one that can help us when we have given up hope in all the other method we have tried in the past.

So for this new school year, I have chosen the word Pray.

"...Pray and not give up" Luke 18:1
"Pray that you would not fall into temptation." Luke 22:40

There is so many other scriptures that I could quote, but I can't remember the exact scripture.  If you have any scriptures that you know please share them in the comments.  I'm going to make a print out of those scriptures that speak more to me and meditate on them daily while I have my quiet time.

I have updated my home shrine (altar).  This month we remember the cross on September 14. Our lady of Sorrows is celebrated on the 15th of September.  The color is green for Ordinary time.  I always keep St. Anthony on my altar.  I'm a very forgetful person and often misplace things.  St. Anthony is a very faithful intercessor.

The open bible reminds me to read it often.  This one is open to Psalm 91.  The rosary, a very important tool in prayer.

Please keep me in your prayers.

Work in Progress

Last week the room looked like the picture above, today the desk side looks like the picture below. I just don't feel this is the perfect way. I plan to move the desktop down to the floor but not inside the cabinet. I moved this other cabinet to place the copy machine. Is more stable than the file cabinet. On top of the file cabinet is the printer.

Next area that needs work is the homework desk.

I'm working on a few binders. I hope I get to finish today.

Love this baskets I found at the dollar store, 

great for organizing and they stack.

I'm currently using these to hold items

that go elsewhere.

The drawers are used for pantry items and also office supplies storage.

So this is my never ending project that I hope will get finished soon!

With School now in session and no more kids at home for most of the day, I would be able to tackle this projects.  Now let me get to working, so that I can show you later what I was able to accomplish today.  Will be adding the after pictures to this same post.  See you later......

Update on September 6, 2013.

Here are some recent pictures of the spaces above.

I lowered the desktop to the floor. 

Gave me more room on the desk.

Homework desk is cleared. For now! 

There is always some project in progress. 

Quincenera Invitations are being assembled and will soon be mailed out.

There is still more to be done.  

New Gadget

I found this adjustable 2 or 3 hole puncher.  Since I already have a regular 3 hole puncher. I adjusted this new one, to make the perfect holes on my mini planner pages.  I was having a hard time, punching holes, one by one, with a single hole puncher. And when I tried to use the regular 3 hole puncher, I ended with multiple holes on the pages.

To avoid using the wrong puncher on the wrong size pages, I labeled the puncher.  I have a feeling someone would not notice the difference until they see that the holes don't match with the binder rings.  Hahaha!

Another addition to my office is this office chair for the homework desk.  I love that I have space to work on it. Now I just have to get rid of the rest of the clutter on the computer desk.  The chair was just $2 at a yard sale. I practically got it for free! Its in excellent condition.

My goal is to finish organizing the office and son's room this week.  To keep up with the rest of the house, I do quick 5 minute clutter control in each room. I follow the reminders of Clean Mama and the current zone at Flylady.net

I get reminders in my Facebook news feed. Love these two sites!

Finding the Perfect Planner

Looks like this post is the most popular! Over 200 views and zero comments.  So I decided to edit it.

What made you open the link to view this post?  The picture?

I love my planner! Is not one of the popular planners.  I used a regular binder that I had for years stored in the attic.

Like you can see, it is a small binder 9x7, plain white

I have a roll of my favorite pattern, contact paper.

I cut two sections to insert in the front and back of cover.

I didn't remove the back lining paper.

Now for the inside:

I found Avery page dividers and pockets to fit the binder @ CVS.

I looked for printables online and found this one at  Orchardgirls.blogspot.com

My copy machine, has this neat setting, in which I can copy 2 originals into one page.  So I took some of my favorite planner pages, that I want to carry in my small binder planner, and I made smaller size copies.

Here are some of the sections for my planner:

Calendar, Church, School,Health, and Blog.

Do you use a planner for your daily to-do's?  Is it pre-made or DIY? Have you used any of the free printable pages for planners? If so which one are your favorite?

Please, I want to know what you think of my planner? Give me ideas of how I can improve it.  

Thank you for viewing my post!

Triple Celebration

Yesterday, August 15, Catholics celebrated the feast of the Assumption of Mary.

This day has a very special meaning to our family.  Is the day my daughter Marah was baptized in the Catholic church.  For many years, I ignored this fact.  Until a few years back when I couldn't remember what day she was baptized, I looked at her baptismal certificate and there it was August 15, 1999.

As Catholics, the day of our baptism is a very special celebration. Its the day we are welcomed into the church as new members.

Today August 16, we celebrate my son's birthday!

Here are my two amazing kids.  Marah is 14 and Julian turned 11 today.

The reason we have a triple celebration is because my husband's birthday is coming up in just a few days.

Summer vacations are almost over here.  My daughter starts high school on Monday.  And my son will start middle school on August 26.  

I love how his birthday, is just before school starts.  He usually gets new clothes, new toys, and sometimes money.  If anyone call to inquire on what to get him. I always suggest.  Blue or khaki pants, white or navy polo shirts, shoes, or money.  Get it, school uniform!

I got him a series of books he wanted to read.  And we bought  his backpack in his favorite neon orange color.  

For my daughter's school clothes, she was blessed with a special scholarship program that provided money for her complete uniform for school.  All I have to buy her is new shoes and possibly a new backpack. 

She was also given an Ipad to use for her school work.  And the scholarship program pays for all the apps needed.  

God has blessed our family with this scholarship program.  We would only be paying $60 monthly for school activities and fees that the scholarship did not cover.  The scholarship program paid her tuition, and most of her registration fee. I paid only $50 of the registration fee that was $700.

I believe that being faithful in the small things, brings you great blessings.  I believe that if you help others in their need, God rewards you in amazing ways.  I believe God has a special plan for my daughter and for my son.  

I pray daily that God would guide me in being a good parent for my children.  That he would help us in providing the right education and needs for our children.

We had some rough times in our family.  We had sickness and we had financial problems.  But God continues to be our source of strength in our times of struggle.  

My favorite quote: God will never let you down! He promises a safe landing...not a smooth flight."

Please share with me, in what ways God has blessed you and your family.  Let us encourage one another. God bless you.

Eucharisteo

Its an awe  the way God speaks to me during "quiet time".  In his word.  In an article, a post or a sentence in a book.

Today his word is Eucharist.

According to the New Advent Encyclopedia, Eucharist is (Greek eucharistia, thanksgiving).

The name given to the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar in its twofold aspect of sacrament and Sacrifice of Mass, and in which Jesus Christ is truly present under the bread and wine.

I was reading in the Word Among Us online devotional again this morning. The meditation for today is based on the Gospel.

“Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. (John 12:24)”

This reminded me of the scripture from yesterday in Mathew 16:24

“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself,
take up his cross, and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."

Martyrs have done this!  They have given up their life for Christ.  Is God asking me to be a martyr? Not exactly.  There are others ways we modern day people can serve God.  However, I do want to mention, that martyrdom is not a thing of the past.  In many countries there is still persecution of people for their faith.  

The author of the meditation in the Word Among Us, writes:

....martyrs are powerful witnesses to us, examples for us to follow as we face the “little martyrdoms” of our everyday lives.

Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, preacher to the papal household, once explained it this way: “A mother … goes home and begins her day made up of a thousand little things. Her life is literally reduced to crumbs, but what she does is no little thing: It is Eucharist with Jesus! A religious sister … goes to her daily work among the old, the sick, the children. Her life too might seem split by many small things that leave no trace at night—another day wasted. But her life too is Eucharist… . No one should say, ‘What use is my life? What am I doing in this world?’ You are in the world for the most sublime of reasons, to be a living sacrifice. To be Eucharist with Jesus.”

A thousand little things.   One Thousand gifts, Ann Voskamp's title to her book.  Retelling her story of how she found this habit of giving thanks.  Chapter 2, page 31 as she was reading, "And he took  bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them..." (Luke 22:19 NIV)

And she brakes the word "eucharisteo" into pieces and meanings.

charis, meaning grace

chara, meaning joy

Eucharisteo, meaning thanksgiving

And she summarizes, " As long as thanks is possible, then joy is always possible....Here, in the messy, piercing ache of now, joy might be- unbelievably- possible!"

Her life is literally reduced to crumbs, but what she does is no little thing: It is Eucharist with Jesus! 

And the author of the meditation end with this:

The “crumbs” of our lives are gathered together and bring hope to other people. Each one of us is a treasure of the Church.

 We each have our own messes, our own problems. But in the midst of those messes and those problems we are able to find "eucharisteo", grace and joy.  We are able to use our experiences and share a little of us with others. Hoping and praying that our life would be a vessel of hope to them.  

" Lord help me to be a blessing to those who enter this blog and read what you have put into my heart and guided my fingers to type. In Jesus name I pray, Lord hear my prayer."

Friday Fun!

I stopped over at one of my favorite blogs. Lord, Make Me a Saint
Jamie is having a Mailbox Link party.

I thought it would be fun to participate in it. So I took my camera and headed out the door.

We have a cloudy day here in the Bay Area.

Here are our mailboxes

The gray one is mine.

The white is my downstairs neighbor.

The view from the inside.

I wanted to also share my neighbors garden.

I love this water fountain with St. Francis.

This is the spot where my mailbox was before. Our mail was always placed in my neighbors mailbox. Or we we will get the next door neighbor's mail in our mail box.  So we placed them closer together. Now everything gets placed in my mailbox.  Because the mail person thinks its to complicated to reach the white mail box through the fence and the tree branches. 

Do you Follow Jesus?

Today's Gospel: Mathew 16:24-28

Jesus said to his disciples,
“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself,
take up his cross, and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world
and forfeit his life?
Or what can one give in exchange for his life?
For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory,
and then he will repay each according to his conduct.
Amen, I say to you, there are some standing here
who will not taste death
until they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom.”

Quiet Time Reflections:

Every morning, I read a portion from the Bible. Today I visited The Word Among Us website. It is an online Catholic Devotional Based on the Daily Mass Readings.

I like this website because it gives you a link to the online NAB Readings at USCCB.org 

I still prefer to have the King James version close by, in order to have a deeper study of the readings.  My KJV has comments for specific words and phrases.

As I was reading the Meditation for today in the online magazine.  These words stood out to me: "follow him!"

The meditation is based in the Old Testament reading in Deuteronomy 4:32-40.  So after reading the meditation, I clicked over to the Spanish version of the website. That meditation is based on the Gospel of Mathew. The one written at the start of this post.

As I'm reading the Gospel, I see it again!  "Follow me." 

God's desire for us, is to follow him!

Do I deny myself everyday and take up my cross? What things am I allowing in my life that prevent me from following Jesus? What activities get more attention in my life, that I can't spend at least 15 minutes in prayer?  

We follow so many trends. We follow people on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and other social medias.  

Do we follow the One who sent his only Son to give his life for our redemption? Do we follow the One who gave everything so that he could win us back to his side? Do we follow the One who has filled us with his own Spirit and who never stops offering us his grace, his power, and his presence?

What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world
and forfeit his life?  NONE

Am I seeking the approval of people?  Yes, I often do. Lately, I had been a little down because my posts were not getting any comments.   I was looking for answers of why?  Until I realized, is it important to see 20 comments on your post? It would be nice, but its not necessary.  I just want to know that what I'm doing is of benefit to someone else. 

Then I get this message on Facebook: "Hi i have to tell you . You are my inspiration since i have been seeing How organized u are I have a desk now. All my papers are in order. I already paid my bills this month. You are a great mom wife and person"

Wow! Thank you Lord Jesus! Just one message, made me realize that I making a difference in someone's life. But its not me. Its God working through me, through my actions, through my words. I seek for people not to follow me, but for people to follow HIM!

Your comments are appreciated. Thank You!

Dryer Lint Removal

Thanks to Flylady she alerts of  how important it is to clean the vent in your dryer.
You can find one of her posts here. http://www.flylady.net/d/br/2012/05/16/flying-safe/

She recommends buying a lint removal kit.

I didn't get the one they have in their website.  I found mine at CVS

Looks just like this one:

I have been cleaning the vent of the dryer for like 6 years already.  But I never thought that more lint was hiding in other parts of the dryer.  Until the repair man came to fix our dryer.

He opened it up from the front and removed the cylinder that rotates when the dryer is ON.

He said, "If you want you can vacuumed some of the link now before I place everything back."

I have been wanting to do this for years.  I knew that there was lint still left behind and I needed to get it out.

The following pictures are from the inside of my dryer.  15 years old and for the first time, I was able to vacuum the inside cabinet.

My son had already vacuumed most of the lint, when I thought of taking a picture.  All that bottom area was covered in lint.

The repair man said that if you have your dryer to close to the the wall that creates a suction of  lint back into the cabinet.

After the repair man left the house. I went on youtube to see if I could find some videos on cleaning your vents.  There are many!    Mommymilestones  has very interesting videos.

Its suggested that you clean the inside of your dryer at least once a year.  The lint trap should be cleaned after each load.

I hope this post has helped you to see how important it is to clean out your appliances at least once a year.  I thank my heavenly Father that we have never had a fire. Our dryer is quite old, and it has broken down a few times over the years. But it continues to work and be a blessing to my family.

Please share your comments at the end of this post. I want to know what you think. Was it helpful?

OFFICE DESK MAKEOVER

Here is a before picture of my desk

I will be honest, its not always as neat as it looks in the picture.  

As I'm writting this post, there are items all over the desk.  So before I continue. I will set my timer for 15 minutes and clear it off. 

In ONLY 15 minutes I went from this:

TO THIS:

Last month I added this nice drawer liner to the backsplash of the desk hutch.

 I even used it to cover the mini clip board. That I use for my daily to-dos

How do I organize papers on my desk?

I use this handy accordion organizer that zips up.

My Goal is to check each section every time I sit at the desk while I wait for my computer to turn on. 

TABS

TO PAY

ACTION

FILE

ERRANDS

PAYSTUBS

TAXES

I KEEP MY INCOMING SORTER HERE

HOW do you keep your desk organized? Please share your ideas in the comments section.

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Budget Tips

A few months ago I read the book First Steps To Wealth  by best selling author Dani Johnson. Love every single chapter. My favorite chapters are 8 & 9.  In this Chapters Dani Johnson talks about money. How are you spending your money? Where is it going? 

On Chapter 9 she keeps the focus on DEBT.  She gives you 7 steps on how to eliminate your debt.

1. LIST YOUR INCOME

2. FIND OUT HOW MUCH YOU KEPT

3. FIND OUT WHERE IT WENT

4. CUT THE FAT- the excessive money you spend on foolish things

In step 4, Dani Johnson recommends the use of highlighters.  Take your bank statement and highlight your expenses.

Yellow-Food

Pink- debt payments

Purple- Necessities- rent, utilities, water

Orange- Everything else is your fat (things that are not a necessity)

STEP 5- PAY OFF YOUR CREDIT CARDS, CAR LOANS, AND MORTGAGE

STEP 6- CREATE A FUN BUDGET, SAVE FOR FUN ACTIVITIES

STEP 7- GIVE, DONATE TO CHARITIES

I went through each step from 1 to 5. I realized that I was spending under 3k in bills and credit card payments. However, I was not saving much. Where was the rest of the money? Probably spent in cash purchases. I set a budget with the current expenses.  Allotted only 3k to pay  bills and credit payments due monthly. The rest would be saved and used to pay other needs.  Recommended to pay Groceries and Car Expenses with Cash.

I keep all my Finacial Information in this Red binder. With a section for Information on articles that Dave Ramsey has written to help me review often.

A section for Tracking monthly expenses. Budget 

A section for Bank statements

A section to keep track of Debts

And last a section for website information to each payee, user names and passwords.

I also included a pencil zipper pouch for holding pens, stamps and mini calculator.

BUDGET BINDER

BUDGET AND CURRENT MONTH'S EXPENSES

I have an Excel worksheet saved in my computer with the monthly bills, Automatic payments, and credit card balances and payments.  Each month I input the information for those variable amounts on certain bills. The water bill gets paid every four months and the waste management gets paid every three months. That's the money that I use to pay off credit cards or transfer into savings.

I learned from Dave Ramsey that you should pay off your smaller debts first and continue to pay the minimum on the higher balances.  So far I have paid off 3 credit cards. I have one left under $500. That one would be paid off soon.  Thanks to this new way of keeping track of my expenses and being disciplined to not use the money for other expenses.

I strongly recommend you to read Dave Ramsey's book TOTAL MONEY MAKEOVER.  This two books have helped me two understand, how to take control of money instead of letting money control me.

Do you have a budget binder? Or how do you keep on track with your budget and bill payments? Please share any of your ideas in the comments section.

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Answered Prayers

Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me. - Psalm 138:3

Church in Santa Barbara Chihuahua Mexico

Sunday's Gospel was about Prayer. Luke 11:1-13

Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished,
one of his disciples said to him,
“Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.” 
He said to them, “When you pray, say:
Father, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread
and forgive us our sins
for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us,
and do not subject us to the final test.”

And he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend
to whom he goes at midnight and says,
‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread,
for a friend of mine has arrived at my house from a journey
and I have nothing to offer him,’
and he says in reply from within,
‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked
and my children and I are already in bed. 
I cannot get up to give you anything.’
I tell you,
if he does not get up to give the visitor the loaves
because of their friendship,
he will get up to give him whatever he needs
because of his  persistence.

“And I tell you, ask and you will receive;
seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you. 
For everyone who asks, receives;
and the one who seeks, finds;
and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 
What father among you would hand his son a snake
when he asks for a fish? 
Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg? 
If you then, who are wicked,
know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will the Father in heaven
give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”

During the Homily the priest said that God always has an answer to our prayers.

Either he answers with a "NO. What you are requesting is not what I have in plan for you."
A YES, "I would grant you your request" or
A NOT NOW," I will grant you what you request but in my timing. You have to be patient and wait."


When we pray we often want our prayers to be answered NOW! But often we don't understand that HIS answer is what is best for us.
Sometimes we want God to anwer us exactly how we want  HIM to reply.  God's plans are better than our plans.



The priest also said that when you pray you don't need a long prayer.  Sometimes you don't even need to say a word.

"God Understands our Prayers Even When We Can't Find the words to say them"

We have to be Persistent in prayer.

"For everyone who asks, receives;
and the one who seeks, finds;
and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. "