Checklists!

I don't know about you, but for me having a checklist is essential to helping me stay organized. I make checklists for almost everything I do. If I go shopping for groceries or anything else I need, I must make a checklist otherwise I forget 95% of the items I went into the store for. I make checklists of what I need to accomplish in a day, week, month to keep me on task and remembering what all my plans were. I need checklists of what I need to pack when going away or I'm bound to forget something that I will most likely need! 

When I worked at Enbridge I kept a list of things that we needed to do in my pocket at all times.While these tasks may seem a little odd, this was our summer work load for two summers and this trusty book allowed us to keep track of everything we needed to do. The things we had to do multiple times a week couldn't get crossed off simply because they were daily tasks. And, if you are wondering what "sniff some Cherry Bomb" is all about, you haven't lived. There is some gritty hand wash that is called Cherry Bomb that smells amazingly good and we would make it a daily effort to wash our hands with in a breathe in the delicious smell. HA HA. 

In all seriousness though, lists are the be all end all for me. They keep me remembering all the important things. Which, if you haven't figured out by now, I am a fairly forgetful person. 

As I am getting ready to pack up my things and get ready to leave for Australia in 30 days, I have made a super cute checklist to help me stay organized. There are so many things left that I need to accomplish before my departure and this list is helping me remember the important things that are left to do.

 

I wanted to share with everyone this checklist that I made because maybe there are some forgetful people out there like me that need to write everything down and check everything off to feel organized and on top of things. 

Click here to download

Make sure to leave a comment if you download the checklist and tell me what you use checklists for the most!

Little Miss Organized

Now that I am in the process of packing most of my belongings to be stored for a year, I have a lot of work to do because I have A LOT of belongings! 

I've started packing up my craft/work room which holds many papers, folders, teacher files and resources. I originally shoved everything into a big Rubbermaid container and put the lid on. Well, yesterday I thought of something that I needed to take out of said bin and it wasn't pretty. I quickly became overwhelmed at the mess that I have made by tossing everything into the container. So, I looked around for the best ways to organize everything. I found a teacher online who "binder-ized" all of her school stuff and everything had been perfectly labelled and colour coded. Next thing I know I'm off to the store to buy some binders! 

Check out where the Binder-izing Project came from! CLICK HERE!

I downloaded her completely customizable templates for the binders from TeachersPayTeachers. The best part is that I had enough TpT credits to get them for a nice discount! 

Full Customizable Binder-izing Kit

Standard Binder-izing Kit Freebie

I was able to make up 10 perfectly perfect binders within an hour. Everything is completely organized and will be easy to access. I can't wait until I am back here teaching and I will have a beautiful organized system of all my papers and files. This is seriously the best way to store everything and it takes up little space!!  

I love how these can go on a shelf and you can tell EXACTLY what is in each binder! AMAZING!

I'm so excited to have this binder-zing system and will definitely always use it! It's too just brilliant! 

Unlimited Possibilities

Isn't it strange how some things never even seem possible until they happen?  I mean, if you would have asked me five years ago where I'd be today I'm certain I wouldn't have been able to tell you that I would hold a Bachelor of Education degree and be moving to Australia. On the other hand, if you ask me today where I will be in the next five years, or perhaps even in just one year, it's likely the answer would be quite vague. It just goes to show how we have no idea what is in store for us. 

I like to think of my life as a novel, and that each different part of my life is divided into chapters. Anyone who has read a good novel can hardly put it down because the suspense of not knowing what will happen next compels us to read on. The difference between my life and a novel is that I cannot flip ahead and peek into what happens next. Whatever is in store for me, I cannot wait to fill the pages of each chapter with happiness, excitement and love. 

I've got 43 days left until I hop on the plane that takes off to Australia. I have finally got my flights booked and the excitement is starting to kick in although it still doesn't seem possible. When I think back to a year ago when we were in South Africa, it didn't actually kick in that we were really in South Africa until the beginning of our second week there. Strange isn't it? Anyway,  I'm slowly getting things together and getting rid of other things that I no longer need. I'm hoping to fit everything into one suitcase and a carry on. I already know that it's pretty far fetched, I will be the person in the airport with two full sized suitcases, a carry on and a really big personal bag! Ha Ha! 

A huge CONGRATULATIONS extends from me to all my friends who received their degrees last week! All of the hard work, early mornings and caffeine filled nights have paid off! I hope your heart is smiling from your wonderful accomplishment, I know mine is!

Learning Through a Lens

As much as I love my Canon Rebel DSLR camera, I've been neglecting it for quite sometime. I bought it a few years ago for a MEGA good price in a Boxing Day special! I go through spurts where I dabble with it for a while and try to learn the basics of manual shooting. 

I've decided that I really want to learn all there is about this camera and what it can do. I know for certain that I did not buy it to shoot with Auto settings, so it is my goal to learn this camera and all there is about manual shooting. I want to learn all I can so that my camera and I can work as a team in taking creative pictures capturing my life. 

I was sitting out on the steps watching Cooper-man play when I thought I should bring out my camera and take a few pictures of him. I learned how to take pictures in the natural, sunny light of day. I think they turned out well! This one is my favourite! 

Here are some other pictures from a while back that I took that I think are great.  

This picture is from my trip to South Africa. I snapped it while we
were on a night safari as the sun was setting! I love the silhouette!

We were out in the field on a foggy winter day and J was shooting his
SKS. I like this picture because of the fog and that the shell is flying
through the air.

I captured this picture while we were watching the competition
at Spruce Meadows in the International ring last fall.

While looking through the pictures on my camera, I found one that I barely knew existed. It was a picture J and I took near the end of summer last year. What a gem to find!