Getting Reorganized

What a wonderful weekend!  I cannot tell you how enjoyable it was to get away from the computer more and enjoy life! Yes, yes, I did do a post yesterday and I did make the rounds visiting some yesterday evening but that was about it.  Sorry, but I am being very stingy with my computer time lately, and enjoying it!

My youngest son was off from school Friday along with my husband who was off from work, and to top it off my oldest who was on spring break last week came home with his new girlfriend to stay with us for the weekend.  We dined out two nights in a row, enjoyed each others company, made some head way on a few projects around the house and cruised around in the sail boat some on Saturday.  It was one of those weekends where we all kept feeling like we were on a holiday for some reason!

Let me show you one of the projects we made some headway on. 

My husband recently inherited his fathers desk after he passed away and he and my son picked it up on Friday.  By late Sunday afternoon, it is now sitting comfortably in it's new home here in the office off of our kitchen.  The Mr. still has some tweaking to do with getting everything reorganized.  It is killing me because I want to get in here and fix it all up but this space is off limits to me for now as he needs time to adjust and sort through some things on his own, understandably!   

Besides, I had my own office to rearrange again!

Because our big old corner desk unit had to go somewhere!  The Mr. wanted to just get rid of it, but I really wanted to use it to help me get a little more organized too.

I moved my pretty green desk over on this side wall where the sewing desk used to be.  It really works here for me as an extra space for crafts and etc. 

 Currently I am using it as a space to store my samples products.  This will work out great for me to keep my items all together and be a great place for staging photo shoots for new pieces.

I kept my green shelf nearby for storing all my paints, projects, and craft books.

The sewing machine desk moved over here in this dormer nook.  It just barely fit!  Whew!  I love the lighting over here too!

Check out my new sewing chair.  This was my FIL's office chair but the Mr. didn't want to use it and I was thrilled to get it because it is comfy and doesn't have any arms which makes it perfect to use while sewing.

Not much changed over here in this corner.

Other then I got things a bit more organized.  Yep, I still have all these glass containers that belong to my friend.  Should I remind her I still have them yet again?  LOL!

Now let's look at my new work area.

Yes, that is a little TV there where a computer should go.  I like having this here much better.  Got to have that HGTV on you know!

And this is what I am soooo thrilled about.  I have a place to organize the paper work and paper products of my business with Initial Outfitters.  It feels so much better to get this organized. Especially, since I have a big party coming up April 1st that I really want to have all my ducks in a row for.

And on this side of the desk I have placed my laptop.  I am going to work really hard on keeping my laptop up here.  I think it will help me limit my time on the computer more if it is not sitting there always open smack in the middle of my den.   Also, having it up here in the office now will help me stay focused more on business rather then pleasure all the time too.  Haha!

Well, that's what I am thinking anyway!

Thanks for visiting and

Wishing you the happiest 1st official day of spring!

Mary

have a great Monday!

--When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me more then these?  “Yes Lord”, he said, “you now that I love you.”  Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”  - John 21:15

In this verse we are shown how important Love is to Jesus.  We are shown here that not only is Jesus concerned with our Love for him but also how we should show our Love for others. 

If you have been following my Sharing Jesus Sunday posts, you may have started to notice that I am currently concentrating on Love.    I will probably stay focused on this for some time as I believe this to be one of the most important characteristics we need to share about Jesus with others.  We live in a world that has so many different definitions and understandings of Love.  I want to continously share that we don't need to look any further then Jesus to truly understand Love. 

 This verse and the ones that follow bring me much comfort and hope.  I have often wondered how many times would Jesus have asked me if I truly Loved him?  How many times would he have rephrased the question asking if I Love him more then this or that or they?  It is comforting to know that he asked Peter 3 times, thus demostrating how important the issue of Love is to him. 

 Furthermore, Jesus shows us how important Love is to him by his simple command to; "feed his lambs."  By telling us to "feed" the lambs, we are instructed to nuture and care for something or someone.  It is an action word.  Do I feed his sheep?  Do I demonstrate my Love for Jesus by sharing his Love for others?   Do I truly share my Love with others? 

 Have you ever wondered who are his lambs?  Can we ever really know who the lambs are, should we even ask?   I like how we are not given this information only the action we are to take, to "feed the lambs."

 Yes, we are shown here in this verse that Jesus is very concerned with Love, real Love!  Are you?

Please continue to pray for those in Japan who are suffering in ways we cannot imagine.  Pray for those who are able to go and help and pray for support for those who are able to help here at home.  Pray for a world to be concerned with showing Love for each other!

Thank you for visiting again today!

Have a blessed Sunday!

Mary

I wanna be Irish!

Yay!  It's St. Patricks Day!  No, I'm not Irish but I sure would like to be!  Like a lot of people, there's just something about the beautiful land of Ireland that holds such special appeal to me, especially this time of year!

DUNGUAIRE IRISH CASTLE

Photo By: Karolos Trivizas

  Combine the allure of all that mystic beauty with the legends and lore then throw in some green beer and I'm in!   Albeit, my green beer of choice lately is Bud Light Lime, though. LOL!  Stay with me here now,ehh!  Still, who hasn't wanted to be Irish for a day, especially on St. Patty's Day?    Soooo...I set a little table scape for the Irish dreamer in me.

I sure do wish I had some of those gorgeous shamrock dishes I have been seeing out here in blog land, but I do not, so alas, what's an Irish girl wanna be to do?

Well, she creates her own there laddie!

Just add a few gel shamrocks to some green apple plates, along with Fransican Ivy and Butlers Pantry and I'd say your looking rather festive there. 

Don't forget the dark green Libby glassware...

....and some gold chocolate coins to entice the wee little leprechauns to come out of hiding! 

And with a bit o' Luck....

...you might enjoy the mystique...

...of being...

...Irish for a day! 

 Care to join me, ehh?

Special thanks to Kathleen of Cuisine Kathleen for inspiring me to use the gold coins.  I just loved this idea from one of her previous year tablescapes. Thank you so much for the inspiration!  Be sure and stop by Tablescape Thursday for more inspiring and memorable tablescapes.

  I hope each of you have a wonderful and happy

St. Patricks Day! 

Mary

St. Patty's Day Blog Crawl fun!

It's Take A Look Tuesday here at The Decorative Dreamer again and I am joining Kathleen for her
 St. Patty's Day Blog crawl!

  What, you say?  I know, I know!  I did say I was not joining linking parties anymore except for a few and this falls into the catagory of a few.  It's a very special event though and I did recieve an invitation.  Now how could I turn it down when Kathleen is also too credit for my St. Patty's day tablescape this year.  Sooo....

maybe just a few snippets...

to entice ya to come back on Thursday!

Sorry!  I am not going to show you my St. Patty's Day tablescape yet...that would just be too easy!  LOL!  But I will show a little more green.  I guess I must have a wee bit of the spirit in me because I'm rather enjoying acting like those naughty elusive leprechuans.  LOL!

On my mantle I have this plate displayed.

I purchased it last year on clearance at TJ Max for $1.00.  Can you believe that?  Seriously!  It was in a box too and part of their St. Patricks day decor.

I just love the knot details on the plate!

Speaking of knots, let me show you a pewter necklace I purchased at our Christmas Classic last year.

I bought several slides to go on this chocker and this is one of my favorites.

It is a celtic knot!  I just love it!  I think I'll wear it this week for good luck!  LOL!

And here's a few more of my favorite greens.  Nothing really Irish about these but they are green and it's Take a look Tuesday at my place so I'm showing ya!

I just adore the raised flower and the footed design on my favorite coffee mugs.  The pattern is from American Atelier.

On my coffee table I have a splash of green too.

One last teaser here, I used this green hydrangea in my St. Patty's day tablescape...but you'll have to come back for that one now, okay?

Have a great day everyone!

See ya!

Mary

Controversy and Business!

Hi Ladies! I hope you had a beautiful weekend!  I certainly did!  What a busy and fun weekend too!

It's Mary's Meditating Mind Monday and I've got lots to share so let' get started.

First off, I want to thank each of you that offered up your comments on my post about "Apathy".  I really do appreciate hearing from each of you and really did seriously meditate for a bit on each of your points of view.  I purposely did not reply to anyone of you other then the one comment I made myself on my blog.  This post was not published with intentions of debate but to share what "I" believe to be a growing issue in our country.  I left comments open because I wanted to hear your thoughts and believed it was important for others to see them as well.  Mainly because, we do not all see things in the same way or even handle things in the same way and other points of view are interesting.  Your comments certainly reflected that and for that reflection of introspect I am very grateful!

  I want to also remind my readers about the new direction of my blog.  I know in the past, you have been used to seeing mostly decorative, creative, sailing photos and similar posts.  In February, I introduced a new format for my blog that is more tailored to reflecting me, shown here.

  It is not my intention to stop sharing my creative and decorative side, or my sailing side when ever possible.

See, this is what I did on Sunday!

  However, I would not be true to myself (and my blog now) if I did not also share those other aspects of my life that are important to me.  I do not intend to shy away from controversy just to keep this blog "only" a happy place any longer.  It did not work for me, as it did not feel "real" to me.  I am full of many thoughts and compassion and when something is weighing on my mind I will probably share it.  I have no problems with those that choose to keep their blogs a happy place only, especially if you enjoy it!  I am blogging how I choose to, just as you do! 

Now for what's really been on my mind this weekend!  Business!  Woohoo!

  I hosted my first "launch" party this weekend and am happy to say it went much better then I anticipated.  I had about 10 ladies attend out of 45 plus invites sent out. A bit disappointing, but I understand now that is about average.  As I knew would be the case, those who came were very interested and excited about our products and their orders reflected that!

These photos were taken after the party as I forgot to get pics before with all the great food and was too busy during.  I will work on that in the future!

I am even going to be hosting two more shows from this event and hopefully more in the future.  I have also been in contact with a few ladies who are interested in having me hosting shows for the schools they work at.  Since I am only interested in selling to teachers and staff at this time I am trying to work out the logistics with that.  It is a busy time for me as I am sharpening my marketing skills.  Fortunately, the company I work for has oodles of resources available I just need to make the time to use them as I balance my home life.

I highly recommend this company if you are interested in a direct sales business!  I would love to add you to my team if you love our products and this is a great time to start as we have so much going on this month.  There are many levels you can purchase to begin but they have offered up a special March package at the lowest level if you are interested.  It is quite a bargain! 

 Wouldn't it be great to have a team of online bloggers in the same company across many states sharing tips and supporting each other?  I think so!  

Please contact me at mlkeels@sc.rr.com for more details on how to become a sales consultant for Initial Outfitters. 

I added a few more photos to my blog tab under Decorative Dreaming with Initial Outfitters.  I do apologize for not updating that as often as I had hoped, but will definitely keep doing so. 

Please go here for more details on these items and continue to check it out from time to time.

I want to share one last shout out for my new business.  Since my launch party was NOT hosted by anyone other then myself I get to enjoy the hostess benefits earned on this party.

  I am so excited about the amount of cash back I earned to purchase more products for my displays.  I cannot tell you how generous the rewards are!  Not only do I have cash back to spend, I  also have several half off items I can purchase, and several "hostess specials" available to purchase all based on my sales.

  These deals and rewards are through the roof exciting!  I get to use these all myself for this party,woohoo, but I cannot wait to share these benefits with others who host party's for me!  This opportunity is just to good to pass up, seriously!

  Oh I almost forgot, we had a conference call on Thursday announcing many great things going on including our closeout blowout sale!  COBO!!!  Look for this sale going on now online with unbeatable close out prices.  We have "LOTS" of new merchandise coming in and it's time to clear out the old and bring in the new!  So, stop on by my website at

www.initialoutfitters.net/marykeels

and check out the sales!  It's a great time at Initial Outfitters and I'm so happy to have jumped in when I did. 

As you can see, there is much on my mind lately!  Thanks for taking the time to visit and catch up!  I'm not sure how many posts I will get in this week but I do have a St. Patty's Table scape to show you later in the week and am looking forward to that!

Happy Monday Yall!

Have a great day!

Mary