Happy Monday! We just had a glorious three days in a row of 100% sunshine. I knew it had been a long time since that had happened, but even I was shocked when the meteorologist confirmed this morning that the last time was May 2014. Wow. If you aren’t familiar with where I live (West Michigan, north of Grand Rapids), we get a lot of both clouds and sun due to the impact of the Great Lakes. Lake Michigan, specifically, has a big impact on our weather and so we are right up there with Seattle in terms of cloudiness (but not rain). All that to say, it was really lovely to have a gorgeous sunrise day after day.
Last week when I set my homemaking goals for the week I mentioned I was only doing a few small ones because I had a lot of work projects to focus on. David and I had a very productive week and late Saturday evening I was able to post the freshly updated and expanded A Quiet Simple Life Planner and Guidebook. All of the cozy life materials that were once scattered throughout my site as free printables are now in one place (and the free printable posts are all gone).
I see A Quiet Simple Life Planner and Guidebook as the core resource for people pursuing a simple life with me. It includes all of the cozy life materials, the materials for The Prudent & Prepared Homemaker series, and The Cozy Christmas Planner. (I am no longer selling the Prudent & Prepared items separately so that category redirects in the Shop.)
As you’ll see from the product description, all new printables I create from this point on related to these topics will be inserted into that planner. I’ll also be updating the calendars every six months (calendar and academic year rotation). So if you own the A Quiet Simple Life Planner and Guidebook, you can simply go in and download an updated copy every time I add new content. You purchase it once and get all the updates.
Why did I do this? A couple of reasons.
One, to help reduce the minutia I was drowning in as I mentioned in The Hours and Days Create Your Life last week. I no longer have to maintain dozens of posts and tiny printable products. They are all in one place.
The second reason is to allow me to focus on my readers, subscribers, and online friends who gather here. I can invest in creating posts, videos, podcasts, and printables for the people who are also invested in being here with me and not just randomly stopping by to grab free stuff. I can create to help others and add them to the A Quiet Simple Life Planner and Guidebook without having to create new product pages, posts, etc.
So if you already own it, you can go into your account on my site and download the updated version. (Go to the Menu bar on my site, select the drop down menu from The Shop, and you’ll see where to log in to get your purchases.) There is no download limit or time limit on this product so you will always be able to get the newest version.
If you have already purchased some of the Prudent & Prepared printables and/or The Cozy Christmas Planner and would like the entire thing, I would be happy to create a custom coupon for you for the amount you’ve already spent. You can then apply it to the purchase of the complete A Quiet Simple Life Planner and Guidebook. Just send me an email (sallie at sallieborrink dot com) and I’ll find your purchases and email you a coupon for that total.
I cannot even begin to express what a relief and joy it is for me to have this done. I still have to go in and updated dozens of posts that reference and link to the free versions of the individual printables, but I’ll do that over the next few days. The important thing is that I’ve created something that is win-win for everyone.
So this week it is on to the Editable Homeschool Planners. I’m reworking those, choosing some new designs, etc. If you have any suggestions or input regarding this, feel free to share it in a comment on this post.
Because of all this, I am only setting one goal this week.
Goal 1 – Extended homeschool planning. I would like to map out the next couple of months a bit more than I have in my head.
What do you have planned this week? I hope you’ll share a few goals (big, tiny, or in-between) in the comments below. Then come back on Friday and tell us how you did so we can celebrate or commiserate with you. LOL!
(And I have to say this about the artwork I selected for this week because I just love it. The woman looks like she’s all dressed up to go somewhere, but she’s engrossed in her book and trying to read as much as she can before she’s forced to go do whatever it is she has to do. It must be a good book! LOL!)
Have a cozy week!
Artwork: “Portrait de Lucie Lisant un Livre” by Jacques-Émile Blanche
The Hours and Days Create Your Life
My goals this week are to get caught up on housework, and to make some progress on the chair that I have stripped down. I also have some mending and small repairs to do, which should be quick once I get to them.
Hmmm….. I put off commenting this week because I was feeling blah and not motivated, but looking back at last week’s plans, and remembering how helpful that brain dump was is helping me get back on track.
So, for this last half of the week.
1. Clear off one shelf in the closet. That’s less overwhelming than all the shelves.
2. Plan out how I want to rearrange the school/craft room. My daughter was complaining about the set up right now. So I’m not quite sure what I’ll do with it.
3. Create Creation sensory bins/take home bag (I’ve got the brainstorm, now to make it a reality).
We changed the beds and will do some cleaning and shredding in the next few days.
Marilyn
Oh, shredding. We have a bunch of that to do as well.
Glad you had three lovely days of sunshine, Sallie — those days are such a gift:). I actually think that we had the same over Friday, Saturday, Sunday but somehow I didn’t take note to count them. We’re having quite a big and lovely snowfall this evening:).
I love the look of the Creating Your Cozy Life Guidebook and Planner. I’m thinking I’ll get one soon and I’m actually also thinking that it might be something my daughter (14) might like to do alongside me. We both really like “cozy” but she is much more of a list maker than I am. She would also love the beautiful visuals you’ve included.
As for goals:
I am partnering in coordinating an intergenerational church event Sunday afternoon so my goals centre around that and are ones that I actually have to get done. I’m just aiming not to be doing it all Saturday night so I guess that’s the main goal – I’m giving myself specific times;).
1. Cut outs for paper activities and printout verses- Thursday evening
2. Putting wording/readings together – Friday evening
3. Set up and shop for food – Saturday morning and early afternoon
I hope your event comes together and goes well!
Friday Update:
Well, I didn’t accomplish my goal this week. I think after working so intensely last week my brain just said, “Nah, not doing much this week.” I could not get on track mentally this week. On the plus side, I did add a bunch of links to the forum since that doesn’t take too much thinking.
So my week was just kind of a do-piddly-little-things-here-and-there type week, but I don’t know that I can even list them out other than the typical laundry, grocery shopping, paying bills, etc. Really not sure where the week went.
Hopefully you all had more success than I did! LOL!
Sallie
I made progress on the housework and on the chair, and fixed a couple of things, but I didn’t get to the mending. I also waxed the kitchen floor, which really needed it.
Peggy,
Are you reupholstering a chair or refinishing wood?
Sallie