Alphabet Swap Letter I

 I did a swap on swapbot where we listed songs that started with the Letter I. I love music swaps because I get introduced to different music. I have always been a big music fan so these swaps are right up my alley.

1, If I did not Love You - Jason Aldean/Carrie Und

erwood

https://youtu.be/H3Uk9WAOI08

2.I Knew You Were Trouble - Taylor Swift

https://youtu.be/vNoKguSdy4Y

3. I love you - Billie Eilish

https://youtu.be/WiinVuzh4DA

4. I know you Want Me - Pitbull

https://youtu.be/hFoxg4IFtqc

5. I Was On a Boat That Day - Old Dominion

https://youtu.be/nr5dMwKaLag

6. I Want To Touch You- Def Leppard

https://youtu.be/lZXkcRg9rOA

7. Invincible - Def Leppard

https://youtu.be/MKgYvQdvmhM

8. Immortal - Def Leppard

https://youtu.be/9M62PWvWGec

9.  I dont want to Live Forever - Taylor Swift

https://youtu.be/7F37r50VUTQ

10. In The Heart of A Woman - Billy Ray Cyrus

https://youtu.be/P12ikFL1QRY

Why I Blog

I am fairly new to blogging right now. I am still trying to figure out all the in and outs of it. I guess its a work in progress. I will admit I do know that my blog is probably not written in the ways other do. I want it to be my style. After all it is my blog, right? 

One reason I blog is to have a creative outlet. I love finding new topics to research and find out how I feel about those topics. I am learning new things as I am just getting started and I am loving it. I am finding things I would love to know more and skills I want to learn. 

Another reason I decided to blog is because I would love to eventually love to generate income from my blog. I realize that may never happen or it is way in the future. Right now that is just my ultimate goal that I would love to achieve.

I am also hoping I get to meet some new meet people  through blogging. I would love to reach people and get to know them through my blog. I am always looking for new friends that live places I may never visit. I always try to leave my blog with an entry to get feedback from those who read my blog. I want to hear from people.

I would love to hear why choose to read and write blog.....

My 10 Favorite Songs Right Now

Right now I am finding myself listening to country music alot lately. I am not sure if that is because I am going to Nashville next month or not lol. I thought I would list my 10 top favorites right now. 

 1. Need A Favor - Jelly Roll

2.Last Night - Morgan Wallen

3. Wait in The Truck - Hardy

4. Next Thing You Know - Jordan Davis

5.If I Didnt Love You - Jason Aldean

6. Thought You Should Know - Morgan Wallen

7. Human - Cody Johnson

8. Circles Around This Town - Maureen Morris

9. Brown Eyes Baby - Kieth Urban

10. You Didnt - Brett Young

What are your favorite country songs?

Ways To Live A Happier Life

 I am pretty sure I am not the only one who wants to have a happier life. That is the whole reason we do what we do everyday. We want the best life possible. The goal is at the end of your life to look and smile. Sometimes that is easier said than done. I have decided to look into suggestions give by others to include in my life to make it more happy.

1. Get at least 6 hours of sleep each day. Honestly I think I probably get more sleep than I need so I am good on this one I question if I sleep too much sometimes lol.

2. The one I will struggle with is getting more exercise. I am going to start making myself go the gym at least 3 times a week.  When I used to go I actually found more energy.

3. Another way to have a happier life to eat food that nourishes your body. If its not good for your body than basically do not put it in your mouth. 

4. One thing I already do is avoid news overload. I prefer to not watch the news. I have many reasons for choosing to not watch the news. The biggest reason is because I think news is biased and not true for the most part anyway. I dont need others telling me things that are not true.

5. The fifth way to have a happier life is to boost your self esteem. You spend every second of your life with you. Be your own best friend! 

6. Be optimistic and look for the good things. I always heard life is 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how you look at it. I choose to look at it positively.

7.  Another way to make your life more happier is strengthen and deepen those relationships most important to you. I am lucky to have strong family roots and several close female friends to be there beside in my life.

8. Getting outside more and enjoying nature is very important. We live in a digital world and forget to just go offline and enjoy nature. I am doing that more with my daughter.

9. Mindfulness is the one I struggle with the most. We need to just be in the moment. I tend to be overthing and multi tasking most of my waking hours. I am getting better at this but it takes lots of concentration sometimes.

10. And saving the best for last is finding outlets to being creative.  Hence I have this blog.

What ways can you suggest to live a happier life?

Organization is Key

 I say it all the time and I will continue to say it - Organization is KEY! When you do not have organization you have disorder. Where there is disorder there will eventually be chaos. No one wants chaos. So use the key to avoid the land of chaos.

I have been revamping my home since my job put me on part time. I was tired of the disorganization. Believe me when I say when I started I got hooked and wanted to use it in every area of my life. I felt like an organization queen. ( Coffee may have played a part in that delusion) 

My office was clean but so disorganized. I loved acquired notebooks and planners. I started them got distracted so I would start over. before I knew it my office was bullet journals, planners and folders just laying there staring at me abandoned.

These bins from Walmart helped me organize my office/closet area. I sorted and labeled them so I could easily see what I had and where everything was in a glance. Then of course I had to go to my favorite online store TEMU and get these cute little bins for my drawers and top of my desk.

After I was able to go through everything in my bookshelf and desk I decided I needed to make certain things within reach so I went to Amazon to get one of these.

After that I wanted to add the Malisa effect. You know something different. Something every desk needs but you just do not realize yet. Where would I find something like that without hurting the pocket book. Duh, you go to TEMU!

 As I was going along purging and organizing out of the blue I remembered that I was always saving cans and coffee canisters. So I could decorate them for some personalized storage. I love when ideas come out of the blue.

Then as a reward and to pull the look off I rewarded myself with these:

When Mommy is A Lyft Driver

 I believe in working hard to give yourself the best life possible. I would not be happy in the 1950's lifestyle where the wife is at home while the husband brings home the bacon. I need to have my own life outside the home. Dont get me wrong I love being a mother, but I cant lose myself either in the process.

I want to be the best mother and the best ME I can be, which means I have to balance to make sure one does not over power the other. It is not always easy but in the end it truly makes life so much easier. I see the difference when I follow through and not just go with the flow.

One thing I have always struggled with in my life is being a workaholic. If I love my job, you can bet I will be giving it 110 percent. It started when I was 16 working in a nursing home and never stopped from there. But the day I became a mom that whole guilt things mother feel for leaving their infant at home, yep I felt that .

I have learned to make sure that sometimes you just have to log off and puthat job or side hustle behind you for a little awhile. If you do not that burned out feeling comes and everything will start feeling out of whack in your life. That is one of the great things about my side hustle vs my full time job, I make my own schedule and can easily just not even give it a second thought. Right now I have a calendar on my fridge that outlines when I will be on the road and when I will be at home doing the family thing.

I try to stick to routine to make sure everything flows the same way. When you get into a good routine your life will show it. So following the same times and same routine it becomes second nature. I always try to do the same work schedule so I can mentally prepare myself and my daughter also is used to the schedule.

Priorities are so important. You need to know what you is most important to you. I work because of course life comes with bills and expenses. I want to know I do not have to worry about bills. There is nothing worse than being strapped for cash and the worst possible time. I sent myself a weekly goal I need to hit. It also gives me a chance to work hard because if I hit that goal early enough I get to take the weekend or possibly long weekend off. 

Another priority is making sure my daughter is exceling in school and not being neglected. I want to be there for every little milestone she will reach in life. So that will always come ahead of any thing else I have going on at that moment.

Last but not last I make sure I also make time to just be me. I want to make sure I do not lose touch with extended family and friends.My family is pretty close and we spend almost everyday together. I cherish that because one day that will not be the case.  Sadly my best friends do not live in the same state so I only get to talk to them through text and Facebook but I make sure to always being checking in on them.

How do you balance your life? 

Day in The Life As a Side Hustler

 At this moment I am a full time side hustler, until my client base picks up. Its a crazy life, but definately not a boring life.No day is ever the same as the one before. I prefer it that way!

I prefer to have my evenings free to take care of my daughter after school and do evening routine, so I try to start my day as early as I can. This means being up by 3 AM to be out the door no later than 4 am. My goal is to get at least 6 hours of drive time with Lyft. Weekday mornings are the best because that is when people are needing to get to work. 

I drive in Rockford which is 45 mins from where I live  so the drive is MY time to drink coffee and listen to my favorite music to set the tone for the day. As soon as I get to Rockford I go online and hope to hit it hard all day. Most days  that happens but other times I can hit some slow time. So I have decided to start picking up Shipt orders in downtime. I am just waiting on my card to be mailed to be.

I usually call it quits around 1 or 2 depending on when I notice slow time. Sometimes I will go to the max and do the full 12 hours that we are allowed to do.

Then its home to pick up my daughter from school. We grabbed some supper and start our evening routine. It can be hectic and crazy but its never boring that is for sure!!

My Upcoming Events

 I love this time of year when the sun is shining. The birds are singing and life is bustling around. Just the other day I got to my summer fun plans. Every summer I try to have something to look forward. The previous summer we went to Disneyland. The summer before that I brought a best friend from Boston to Illinois for two weeks and just had a staycation.

So what did I plan this summer, well I am glad you asked! We are going to Tennessee the first weekend in June. We are going to take a nice long road trip from IL to Memphis. We will stay there a few days and visit Graceland, Sun Studios and Memphis Zoo. 

After Memphis we will travel 3 hours away to see Nashville, TN. We will pretty much just be taking in the sights of downtown Nashville. I want to be able to that after its dark to get the full effect. Plus  I like the nightlife.

I truly believe I am more excited about this trip than I was with Disneyworld. Of course that trip was in August in the hot heat of Florida, so it was more a trip of endurance than enjoyment sadly.

Do you have any fun trips this summer? I would love to hear them....

General Randoms

 Sometimes I just have so much going on in my head that I need to just throw it out there somewhere so I can basically lay it to rest. I am on overthinker to the point it drives me crazy. I wish I could overthink important things. But nope its stupid pointless stuff I cant control. 

For May I am going to let all that stuff bonging me down to leave. I never realize how much work it is to be calm. In all honesty staying calm is harder than just going with the stress. I have done it so long by body thinks it is second nature.

How do you stay calm and focused?

May 1 - Time for Newness

 It is May 1st. I am not sure why I am excited by that fact, but I am. I feel like this month is my month. I see myself starting some new adventures and reaching some goals.

I want to relax and just let things unfold. I think I spend most waking hours being uptight and trying to control things with body. I am not sure why I do this, but I am replacing it with relaxing and breathing. I feel I will be checking in with myself several times an hour until it becomes second nature.

I am going to drink more water and have no soda for the month of May. I want to see if it makes a difference in how I feel. There is nothing worse than feeling bloated and having no energy. I used to drink Mountian Dew like it was going out of style, but lately that craving is no longer there.

Another goal is to exercise 3 times a week. I am going to renew my membership to Planet Fitness. I would prefer the YMCA but there hours are so limited its hard to get there.

I would love to hear what your goals for May are!!!