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To most of you, this might sound crazy, but this little eraser has opened up a whole new world of organizational possibilities for me.  I am practically giddy every time I use it.  Let me explain.

For years (seriously, years) I have been trying to find THE perfect planner where I can write down everything I need to remember.  I think I had more qualifications for the perfect planner than I did for the perfect husband.  (Just kidding, honey.)  I went through many planners, and never found a single one that worked for me.  I finally decided to design my own planner pages.  I bought a mini three-ring binder and made a very cute zebra-print cover for it.  (It has 6 pockets.  It is awesome.)  This system was great, until I had to keep buying paper and ink to keep my planner updated.  This cost infinitely more than it was worth to have a personalized planner that wasn't even that great.  I thought if I could somehow make the pages re-usable, that would be the best solution.  

Luckily, I stumbled upon these great erasable labels.  I thought, "Problem solved!"  I painstakingly put teeny labels onto 50 planner pages that were designed flawlessly.  They ended up being crooked, which ticked me off, but I thought I could live with it.  Then came the day which we don't talk about at this house.  The man-child had a horrible night of sleeping (read: no sleep.), and I was exhausted when he woke up at 5:30 that next morning.  I decided to call it a new day and make a giant pot of delicious coffee.  I had him in the high chair, I had a steaming bowl of oatmeal, and a very large mug of perfectly mixed coffee with just the right amount of milk and sugar.  Then it happened.  I backhanded that mug onto the table.  I mean ALL over the table.  And guess what was sitting on the table?  That's right: my fancy, perfectly designed planner.  My life in paper.  Never mind the computer or other important mail and documents.  I was devastated about this stupid planner.  I had literally poured my soul into it.  And now, its coffee-stained pages were taunting me, reminding me that my planner was not invincible as I had once thought.  

This meant war.  

After re-designing my planner pages and doing a little testing, I decided to laminate each page.  There were about 25 in all.  I refuse to use Vis-a-vis (or however you spell those stupid French markers) on anything because they just get my hands inked up and they smudge on everything.  They suck.  I discovered that I could use fine-tip felt markers (in many and various beautiful colors, might I add) and ERASE the writing with the above eraser.  No worries about getting the pages wet.  They're laminated.  They have permanent marker writing.  It does not smudge or stain.  It is beautiful.  

Just pray to God that I don't lose it.  

 
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We love us some awesome Redbox movie renting, mostly because it's a cheap date and we have a small child.  Going to a movie is something we haven't done for... well, over a year.  I'm not that sad about it- we save a ton of money just getting movies from the local library or from Redbox.  Provided we don't turn them in late.  But that's another story. 

Two movies that we have rented recently were good enough for me to recommend.  I have super high standards for movies, so for me to tell someone else to rent it, it has to be really great.  I'm sure most of the world has already seen these, since they came out last year, but if you have not done so, I highly encourage you to enjoy these (I'm not sure if any kind of spoiler alert needs to happen here, but just in case...):
I'm ashamed to say I have never read either of these books (they're on my list!), but I really enjoyed the movies.  So if you have read the books and hated the movies because they were different... sorry.  This is as close as I get to being cultured these days.  

Les Miserables was a great movie for many reasons.  I was very impressed by the singing of all the actors and actresses.  Anything with both Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe can't be bad anyway, but the casting of the main characters was spot on.  I was moved to tears on several occasions, which means it is good.   My husband was passing the Kleenex box before Anne Hathaway could even start to sing, "I Dreamed a Dream."  The raw emotion of the whole plot really pulled me in, and I thought it was just well done overall.

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Anna Karenina was also wonderfully cast.  Jude Law is actually one of my favorite actors.  I don't particularly like or dislike Keira Knightley (wasn't she just in Pirates of the Caribbean?), but she did a great job in this movie.  The costumes were fantastic- the ball gowns were amazing.  And the entire way the movie was filmed was very creative.  I won't spoil it for you, but it took us a while to get used to it.  Once we figured out the implications of the filming style and how the directors chose to weave it into the story itself, we were really impressed.  

My favorite thing about both these classic stories is their representation of forgiveness.  There are a lot of uncomfortable situations and circumstances in both movies.  Many of the characters have grievous and serious sins (as if all sin isn't serious), but the ways in which they are forgiven are really beautiful.  If you're looking for happy endings with puppies and flowers, don't look here.  These movies show the true nature of human depravity and the consequences of sin and fallen man.  

Did you see these movies?  What did you think?  

 
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Working out can be such a drag.  Especially after having a baby.  

I was in a serious slump after the tyke was born.  It didn't help that the weather was getting colder and we had just moved to a new state.  I didn't know anyone, and we weren't paying for a gym membership because I know I would have used it maybe a handful of times.  I was super emotional and needed an outlet.  I was in love with the idea of working out, but I hated doing it.  
  
Enter Jessica Smith.  I don't really know her, but she has been my online personal trainer since January.  She has over 100 *free* workout videos on YouTube.  And they're not just your average lame-o workouts.  I just did one yesterday called, "Dance Party".  She has ballet workouts, yoga, pilates, kickboxing, toning, cardio, body weight only, low-impact, power walking, super challenging workouts... you name it!  And they're not overly long or crazy, and she gives modifications for almost every exercise.  I started using her videos and was so excited to find something that was free that only required a few light dumbbells that I could do on my time without leaving the baby.  Did I mention it was FREE?  

She reads the comments she gets on Facebook and on YouTube and answers them all.  I just thought I would inform all of you about this amazing resource.  I find that I look forward to working out with Jessica almost every day, and I haven't worked out six days a week since before my wedding.  She is awesome.  You should check her out.  And by check her out, I mean her videos.  Well, you could probably check her out, too.