Well, It's Wednesday - Having an Intention

This should be Let's Talk Tuesday - but I suck. 

Let's talk about "Intentions" today. I have begun taking yoga classes again & the instructor always starts his class off by advising we choose an intention for our practice.

in·ten·tion

inˈten(t)SH(ə)n/

noun

1. 1.

   a thing intended; an aim or plan.

   "she was full of good intentions"

In yoga, this could be something as simple as. "Today I choose to love myself" or "Today I choose to be strong" 

we are told to hold on to this intention throughout the whole class to keep our mind focused. When you're muscles start to shake or you are questioning why you are doing this to yourself.

(Hey, it happens. Why the hell am I bending my legs in this way? I am not a pretzel, I repeat I am not a pretzel)

It's a good practice though, I like the idea of setting an intention for every day. Today I choose to be strong. Is an amazing idea & practice for someone with a mental health issue. Today I choose to breathe when I feel stressed. That could be your intention (If you have anxiety, it will be a reminder throughout the whole day to just breath). Today I choose to love myself. Maybe you do too much for others without worrying about you. It's not selfish. Sometimes you have to choose you.

From: mindbodygreen.com: "An intention is bringing your attention and awareness to a quality or virtue you wish to cultivate for your practice both on and off of your mat. Some examples of qualities or virtues you might use as your intention include; patience, gratitude, grace, being present in the moment, awareness of breath, love, forgiveness, letting go, releasing negativity, being open to receive, inner strength, or peacefulness."

"Train yourself, breathing in, calming your entire body. Train yourself, breathing out, calming your entire body." - Buddha

Have you ever set an intention in your life? Do you practice yoga & how have you found this to better your life?

xo.

MinsGameBOSS - Week 3 Recap. ByeByeBye

Week Numero Tres.

Hello, MinsGame friends! How is it going? Are you noticing a difference?

My house is looking glorious!

I sold Fiances bathroom vanity (It was supposed to be put in his old house & he never installed it, He moved it around until it finally ended up in our hallway for a year :|) SO I sold that stupid thing. $220 later and I have my hallway back! YAHOOOOOOOO

That was the big ticket item of the week, I've tried to sell clothes in the past & no one wants my old crap (who am I kidding, I wouldn't pay for it either) So I have just been giving it away, just take it & go. I gave away a garbage bag full of kids clothes sized 5-6, yeah buh bye & next will be their toys.

This week was just a lot of garbage. I am so glad to be rid of it all & I never want to see it again.

I have also adopted a "One in = One out" mindset. I got a new sweater & I got rid of a sweater. Actually like 5. 

That's week 3 in a nutshell. Honestly not that exciting but boy am I noticing a difference! 

How goes the battle friends?

P.S. Do not "forget" a day at this point, it's disastrous! I had to find 43 items the other day & it was stressful. So, just don't do that to yourself.

Oh & Happy Monday - Make it Fabulous!

Lets Talk Tuesday (uh, or Thursday) - Christmas.

Hey there!

I hate Christmas or the holiday season, whatever you prefer.

First of all, now I am offending people when I say "Merry Christmas" because when can you open your mouth and not offended someone nowadays. It's ridiculous.

Second, My family kind of sucks, and no one gets together. This is partially my fault I'm sure because I live 6 hours away from most of them, but hey you could come to me once in a while too. We try to make plans & they just fall through because everyone's busy & no one wants to really put in the effort.

Third, the spending is astronomical and stupid. I would prefer you make me an owl out of a toilet paper  tube. Seriously. OR come over & make decorations & cute stuff with me. OR we could go out and get things for amazing organizations like the shoebox people.  I don't want or know what to buy you & you don't want to or know what you're going to buy me, so why are we bothering? 

Four, it's a sad time. I lost my dad in 2007 & it's just not the same, nor will it ever be. (Where's my beanie babies dad? get it together) so that makes it sad. Other family members don't speak to each other & it's just a big old mess. So where's the happy?

This post is taking a turn for the sad, & whiny so I am going to attempt to turn it around. 

I mean, it's not all bad, but if we're being honest, I am just not for this time of year. 

At least there is peppermint everything & holiday movies!

Sorry for being the Grinch, but hey if you also hate Christmas lemme know, or if you LOVE it please tell me why!

xo.

#MinsgameBOSS Week #2 Recap!

Yeah ok,

I suck at doing this in a timely fashion. Technically speaking, today is my Sunday, so just deal with it ;)

WELL, Week 2 was a fun one, I actually was having some trouble. The numbers were getting bigger & my want to hold on to things I "might" use in the future was holding on like sticky molasses.

I got a bit behind on days 12 & 13 and that gave me a bit of anxiety thinking of it as 25 items seemed so extreme but quickly I realized it adds up. Just like that I had 25 items, small things like glommy nail polishes but regardless, 25 items.

I spent a lot of this week on my rendering markers, it's been long overdue. It was depressing though because as each one didn't work I thought about the money I spent on these stupid things. What is a rendering marker? They are very specific coloured markers with a certain type of thickness, they aren't normal because you can layer them to get the colour of things like fabrics, woods, flooring, tiles, etc. Interior Designers used to use them more back before technology took over the world. We needed these in Decorating school and they were $5 a marker (Unless you lucked out and got them on sale) So as I chucked them out, I cried a little ;)

Alas, we made it through! Mom also purged quite a few items & I'm so proud of her!!! She has been trying to get her shit together for awhile but everytime she thought about the amount of crap she has it gave her severe anxiety! So she's making incredible progress and YAY!

Ok friends, go forth and minimalize! Good luck on week 3!

<3 xo.

Let's Talk Tuesday - Life Decisions.

I realize it's Wednesday - whoops.

So we're just gonna pretend it's yesterday for a minute ;)

Today, I am going to talk about life decisions (You know those REALLY big ones?)

You know what is very difficult. When you have to make a HUGE life decision. One that will change everything.

It's extremley scary.

It could be anything; career change, children, buying a house, buying a car, being with someone, not being with someone. All of these things are absoultely terrifying.

The unknown is terrifying.

I think that life is just one giant leap, and you're free falling the entire time. Maybe you luck out and land on a cloud for a while, but eventually you sink through and start falling again. 

So what do you do? What do you do when you are deciding something monumental?! Tell me in the comments. 

I make lists. Pros & Cons can provide some great insight, I decide what about it is better then the current siuation & what is worse, now do they out weigh eachother? Do you leap off your comfort cloud or do you snuggle into the softness & stay right where you are? 

I ask friends & family. This can get a bit gray though because sometimes they aren't helpful. They want you to be happy so "Just choose the one that makes you happy" but, what if they both make me happy & because it's completely unknown what if I choose the new options & I am not happy at all ???? then what???

Life is hard friends. Call me out on this, but is it even harder in your 20's then anything else? It's such a cluster f*** of things. Some friends are getting married, some have 3 kids already, some are so wasted they don't even know there own name, some are just lost, some are depressed, some are still in school, some are gliding through life on a cloud full of roses, some are writing blog posts because they need an outlet, & most of us are really uncertain about what our path is in life!

P.s. This is why I share positive quotes on my Insta page every day, I need that reminder or I'll totally lose it. I think I already am.

I have had a rough week this one. It's so hard to keep frown drowing. I am falling & it's nothing but rain clouds around me this week. Sadness, defeat, loss & hardships. Thank god for good friends, good managers & awesome family. We'll make it through this, as we have made it through many hard times before. Just keep on keeping on or as Dory would say:

So how do you deal with making extreme life decisions? How is your free fall treating you these days? 

xo. 

Week 1 DONE! - MinsGameBOSS

Hey!

Have you joined along in the #MinsGameBOSS adventure? -- Did you read my post about it? or do you have NO idea what I am referring to right now? (If you're lost, go back to square 1 http://designmedialife.blogspot.ca/2015/10/the-minsgame-boss-what.html)

so now that, that is out of the way. It has been a great week bit of a whirlwind (Have you ever put things up for grabs on a facebook group? if was like hyenas!) Free is the answer everyone wants to hear.

I have had a great week of eliminating crap I will never ever use.

Day 1: I started off with a BANG & just got rid of all the clothes I had already bagged up plus added an item or 2. This worked out to be 3 large garbage bags full of clothes
(BONUS: Some lady picked them all up and took them away, so I didn't have to take them anywhere!!!!)

Day 2: This is where I got the shoes. I got rid of 2 pairs, 1 pair of boots that don't fit & don't suit me. & heels that I bought and will never wear again. So byebyebye (I've been posting this on some of the posts and it was quite hilarious) 

Day 3: Got rid of some littles. 1 silly headband, 1 mascara that was crap, 1 cover up that doesn't (nor has it ever) match my skin tone!

Day 4: Wallets, Business cards & tablet cases OH MY! ... ciao for now. Tried to sell them. Just gonna give them away now. 

Day 5: 3 headbands that I am not sure why I keep. They don't stay in my hair & just drive me totally nuts every time I tried so why would I keep them? 1 brush that was broken (I just replaced it & didn't chuck it? what a dork) & 1 owl :( watch. 

Day 6: That's today, oh yay! more clothes going bye bye today! I reorganized my closet & found some friends that got missed. Like a very large Krispy Kreme donuts shirt from when I worked there.

So that's it for this week! I guess that is technically only 6 days :| well I'll tell you what goes tomorrow next week!!!

How is everyone else making out this week?? Do you feel lighter yet??

Lets Talk Tuesday - Managing Social Media

Hello Friends!

*Side note- It's day 3 of #MinsgameBoss ... What have you gotten rid of today?*

Let's get to the point, today I am going to discuss how I manage Social Media for 4 different business, for free, on the side - all without wanting to end it all. 

I am slowly making progress but my fiance & my boss aren't quite on the same page as I am. They don't understand how Social Media Marketing could help. They also won't put any money into it, alas, I do what I can.

Response to my attempts at convincing them about SM Marketing.

I manage Twitter & Facebook for: Hills & Valley Water Systems, AnaLorr Design (My Design Company), Silver Brook Paints (also my Full-Time job) & Outgoing Owl. It's exhausting sometimes but then I have days of complete awesomeness & it makes it all worth it. 

My Fiance & I got a sale last week, that I am 100% sure came from twitter, and that is exciting! It means it is working!

How do I do this without contemplating ways in which to murder everyone & or chuck my computer at the wall? 

One word, One company, One amazing life saving application: BUFFER! 

Honestly, I would die without my little buddy buffer.

I schedule 10 tweets for 3 out of 4 business all in one shot, usually in the morningish (10-12) when I am feeling my most productive! 

& I let it be for the next 10 days. I respond to any RT's, favourites (or now hearts?), likes or comments.

For now that is it.  I am learning where our customers are for each business and where I should probably be focusing more energy. Twitter is great for my Design business, Pinterest would be better for My boss & our store with Twitter. Facebook is where it's at because of the age group for my Fiance & I's water treatment company. It's weird what you start to realize when you pay attention.

I look at the analytics that buffer provides and it gives me enough insight. For now since no one is paying me, what I am doing is working but if I want to one day work for companies who will pay me I have so much more to learn so this is a great stepping stone! I don't want to feel like I am overwhelmed (then I get all kinds of anxiety & that's fun for no one. Ever)

There is so much for me to learn in this industry, I know I'll figure it out one day. I follow all sorts of amazing people on Twitter, read blogs, watch videos, & participate in Twitter chats to learn & learn some more. That being said, if you have any advice for me please send it my way!

Thanks for reading!