Five Things, Plus Instagram Love

Or Six Things. I didn’t know which title would be most appropriate for this post. If you read further, you’ll understand.

Last year I read a book by Sarah Mae called 31 Days to Clean. Great lady and a great book, but that’s another subject for another day. The reason I mention them is because her book introduced me to the concept of Six Things as talked about in this article. This “million dollar” idea came to me at a time when I  had recently had a baby and was still learning to manage a household with three children three and under . . .  My schedule and laundry and house and my LIFE too often felt way out of control!

This one tip of writing down the six most important things needing to be accomplished that day, helped me to regain sanity {most days}, and at the very least let me see that I had accomplished something of worth. Now my day planner has space more appropriate for five things so I made a list of five things instead of six . . . and granted, many days I didn’t even make it to item number five on the list. But still, the idea was there and I found it to be a livesaver over and over again.  I still continue to practice this little tip . . . not every day . . . but especially at those times when the house gets a little crazy.

So I thought it’d be fun to share a week’s worth of “Five Things” with you today. I did mix up the list a little . . . some “to do’s” with Happy Things and Gifts to be entered on my list of One Thousand!

Oh, and on a side note, can I just say that I own a simple model of an {un-smart}cell phone . . . and I am blissfully happy with it. But the other day I did confess to my husband that if there were ONE reason . . . just ONE reason that I’d love to have a smart phone . . . it would be for Instagram. Oh Instagram! How my heart does little pitter patters over the square little pics with a vintage vibe.

Well, he quickly helped me find an app online for making my own little instagrams. {Much cheaper than buying me the phone & the plan and stuff. } It’s not quite as “insta” as snapping a quick pic on the phone, but still gives me a little satisfaction along the square & vintage lines. So please don’t mind me as I sprinkle a few of my own “grams” throughout my list of Five Things.

May 1st ~

1. Baked Bread, Granola, & Rhubarb Pie
2. Attended the ‘Tuesday Tea’ ladies event at my church.
3. Mowed the Yard.
4. Demonico Steaks, grilled vegetables, and mashed potatoes for dinner.
5. Drove with Phil {and kiddos} to Home Depot {it’s our favorite, or at least most frequented store these days!} after dinner, just to sneak in some time together.

May 2nd ~
1. Blogged
2. Made Rhubarb Cobbler with Dietrich
3. Happy Danced when boxes from Dayspring & Tommy Nelson arrived!
4. FRESH lettuce salad {via my MIL!} to go along with our Crock Pot Chuck Roast & Potatoes. YUM!
5. Last choir practice tonight & then off for the summer

May 3rd ~

1. Made a birthday gift for a brother who’s turning 20!
2. Organized freezer/can room.
3. Did half of my weekend cleaning.
4. Rice & Beans and Cabbage Salad for Dinner
5. To National Day of Prayer event at church.

May 4th ~
1. 6:00 am walk-run.
2. Ordered a pretty & comfy LLBean shoe. Oh no, it’s back-ordered til July!
3. A Treat! Phil brought home chicken BBQ for lunch.
4. Finished the other half of my weekend cleaning.
5. Planted 50 bedding/potted flowers & plants with Claudia as my Happy Helper.

May 5th ~
1. Hit several yard sales with children in tow.
2. I took one $20 bill and spent $19. Results? Nice play clothes for the girls, sandals, boots, & shoes for C.,
an old world map cork board for decorating in D’s new room, a nice pillow form to cover when I get a {rare}creative streak, and several other items! I was so pleased with the clothes, esp. considering that most of them were Old Navy or Gymboree.
3. Watched Husband happily drive around on the little tractor that he refinished {?} refurbished {?} fixed up!!
4. Searched high & low, forward & back, and every combination of dates possible to produce at least a SEMI good rate for a place ticket for my mom to come visit!!
5. Made a big bowl of Muesli for our Dinner tonight. Used fresh strawberries from the store. Can’t wait til the “real” ones are ready!

May 6th ~
1. A Sunday morning phone call from my friend to say her baby BOY arrived!!! Made me happy to think of them all day long!
2. Thankful for our interim pastor, Ken Spence, who preaches truth without apology. No fluffy mother’s day message today. {it’s the one dated 5/6/12}
3. Phil treated our little gang to an early mother’s day lunch at Friendly’s.
{Our church  celebrated Mother’s Day a week early because of Life Action coming to our church next week!}
4. An afternoon nap. Oh how I look forward to this.
5. Lots of fun & laughter on the living room floor with 2 parents and 3 kiddos on a Sunday evening. 

May 7th ~
1. An early morning walk.
2. Thankful for another little stack of clothes & shoes purchased from a lady ready to take her girl things to a consignment store.
3. Washed lots of Laundry.
4. BBQ pork, rice, and fresh green beans
5. Prayer Service for Little Michael {neuroblastoma} at church. Oh God, please heal!!

And that’s a sampling of seven days. If you’re a list keeper . . . either of “to do’s or “happy things” or on your way to giving thanks for 1000 things, and if you want to share them in the comments, please do! You can either mention a few things in your comment or leave a link to your blog. Can’t wait to read them!

Happy Humpday [aka Wednesday]!