A book, A big book…

Yes. I’m still in bed sick, so writing is a must…

And on a side note, this stuff here….Well, it makes you feel very good. Personally, it blows NyQuil out of the water.

It’s Walmart brand too. Only $3.74 a box. Not a bad price to knock your symptoms to the curb…so you can get on with your life…

<A Book. A Big Book~

I’ve always viewed my life as a book. I bet a lot of people do. Not a small one either. 

A great big book. A thick book. (Awe yes, water. BIG water..;) Sorry, couldn’t help myself there. That news clip is still fresh in my mind….
Life is a beefy book-
War of the worlds, 

Moby Dick, 

War & Peace.. you get the point. 

 I use to see my life as one long chapter. I use to be sad when people would come in and out of my life. I also use to be sad when I’d dive into a hobby and learn all about it…. then get bored a couple months later, moving on to another hobby.

I have a lot of empathy, and I have always seen it as an asset to my life. Yet, nowadays, not so much. There is a fine line where empathy towards others can consume your whole inner being. You start to feel drained. As if you have nothing left to give. Anyone! You simply…stop loving. 

So there needs to be a balance. 
Life for me now is still a long book. 

But one with many ‘mini’ chapters. Short chapters. Some poems. Even quotes.

And you know, 

I wouldn’t have it any other way.
During spiritual growth, or any growth, really… you out grown things. You stop relating to things that you once were able to relate to. 

Hobbies, People, likes, dislikes. 

You change. For the better.

You evolve.

And at the risk of sounding too new agey, you go through metamorphosis-like stages over and over and over again. 
I still love people. I also still love trying new things and diving in…face first. 

Life excites me again!
And I hope you all are not only living the best version of yourself, but enjoying the life you have chosen for yourself. 

Don’t lose your JOY in living! 

Meditate and Pray. Find your perfect balance.

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Half of my life is over…

I’ve been sick in bed this past week and it’s  given me a time to reflect on the last ten years of my life.

My birthday is coming up next month, which makes me well aware, that half of my life is probably over. Providing, I live to be a ripe old age.

Ten years ago I hoped I’d make it to age seventy. But as you get older, and really start enjoying who you are, and how much of life there is still to live, you want to live a longer life. You want to see more. Do more. Experience more!  

At least that’s how it’s been for me. 

Looking back at my life ten years ago, I was a mess!  I thought I had it all figured out, but looking back only ten years ago, danggg! I was a mess! But I’m really alright with coming to this conclusion ten years later. 

Some things that I would have liked to tell myself ten years ago:

1. Stop giving people your time who do not value it. Save it for the people who do. 

2. Don’t get so upset over things that are out of your control.

3. Be a leader, never follow. (Unless it’s Christ.)

4. Be comfortable with who you are. 

5. Do what you love, even if it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, or even if you suck at it. If you enjoy it, do it! 😉

And that’s probably it. Nothing too major. 
Now back to sleep. I have a big day tomorrow, which means mind over matter, theraflu, and a smile. 🙂

We are celebrating my daughters 21rst Birthday in style tomorrow. Just thinking about her, and how far she has come in this past year. Makes my eyes tear up. 

I’m so proud of her. I’ve managed to raise a Boss Girl! She’s just remarkable. 

It happens…

I swear they purposely make these cheaper and cheaper each year.

Week in Review

It has been the start to a busy new season for me.

These past couple of weeks I started Birthday and Christmas shopping, on top of my weekly sourcing. And yes! I’m getting mentally prepared for Black Friday. Well, Thursday, actually.

Four out of five of my kids birthdays are coming up. And my husbands birthday is the month of October too. Not to mention my own birthday. Which I don’t actually celebrate anymore. I mean, 29 forever, right?! 😉

The weekends are already booked with parties and Fall Festivals.

I did manage to spend the weekend with a couple friends who I have not hung out with in a while.
I have no internet service up where they live, so I was able to not work at all.

I am on my phone a lot… either listing, looking for inventory, researching or editing pictures. So it was a much needed break,  to just relax and catch up.

When I came back home I was right back to my normal routine of taking care of my family and well, routine. People ask me if doing the same thing week after week ever gets boring.. and the truth is, it doesn’t. I’m very maternal, so I love taking care of my kids and spending time with them. We start talking and three hours easily passes by.  I have one daughter in College. She’s coming home for Fall break this weekend. So I’m really looking forward to that.

I do my best to utilize time when it presents itself. But I’m definetly not perfect with time management. I bought a pretty vintage daily planner, but I just can’t bring myself to use it. I like to have the option of changing plans at the last minute. As much as I want to go back in time and plan every aspect of my life… I just can’t go there.
Getting back to boring….

What I would find boring is having a regular job and dealing with the same people all of the time. Even though I am a people person, I like talking to different people all the time. Whether through the Internet, or just out sourcing.

That said,  I’m very particular to who I share my time with nowadays. And it has made me a much happier, stable person. Either you are an investment to my life, and we lift one another up some how, or you don’t.  Life is too short to not live life to its fullest. 

Regardless of your circumstances…Is what I mean. I love life!

What’s new with Inventory…

Six out of the ten pairs of shoes I bought this past week  have already sold. I also picked up some scrubs that have been selling. I’m currently contemplating on whether to get into toys. I just gave away about $500 worth of zu-zu pets, with their accessories… Along with all my kids old Polly pockets and barbies.

 To be honest,  I have looked at toys for so many years, I’m just over it. Gosh! That sounds harsh. New life chapters began though. And that has been my focus.

I have a few things to list today after school.

Some Luluroe leggings, a couple of purses, and some statement sleeve tops.

I’m pretty set for this month. I do like to keep a dozen shoes in all sizes available though. Shoes sell very well. In fact, I just made an extensive list of shoe brands to share here.

Enjoy!

And if your business is thrifting…. 

It’s hard work, but keep it up! 

You WILL reach your goals. 😉
Extensive shoe list:

Top ((((Flats)))) that sell for over $50 per pair.

Chanel

Louis Vuitton 

Fendi

Burberry

Valentino

Chloe

Tory Burch

Tieks

Salvatore Vergamamo

Lanvin

Gucci

Celine

Alexander McQueen 

Henry Cuir

Paul Green

Free People Royals

Kate Spade

Gianvito Rossi

Sofia Webster

Aquazzura

Jimmy Choo

Prada

Miu Miu

Paul Andrew

Stubbs & Wooutton

Arche

Charlotte Olympia 

Tods

Beautifeel

Nickolas Kirkwood

J Crew color blocks
Comme Des Garçons 

Corso Roma

Repetto

Alexandre Birman 

London Sole

Ted Baker

Pucci

Rothys

Cole Haan

Stewart Weizmann 

Repetto

 Madewell

Jenni Kayne

AGL

Roger Vivier

Balenciaga 

Jack Rogers

Dolce Gabbana 

Frye

Certain Algeria prints 

Certain Dansco prints

Disney crocs

Vionic black ballet 

Jeffery Campbell

Vince

Lilly Pulitzer

Everlane

Birkenstock 

Doc Martins

Certain Coach

Certain Micheal Kors 

Marc Jacobs

Korks

LL bean 

Embellished Aldo

Sam Edelman

Donald Pliner flats

Keep in mind that these are flats only, I have not checked on these brands in heels, boots, oxfords, etc. but for flats, these brands are currently selling well.

Testimony & Weekend Sales

The month of August, I had a 22% drop in sales. It happened last year too. My guess, is that everyone’s extra money goes to school supplies, etc. 

Totally understandable, too. 

I was standing in line at Walmart a few weeks ago, and a there was a lady behind me who I felt called to give money too. I did not see her, I just heard her voice. 

I’m positive it was the holy spirits lead, as I did not know what the lady behind me looked like, or who she was, etc. I didn’t even know if she was a teacher. But I distinctly heard the Lord tell me me to turn around and give her all the cash I had. Not too much, as I rarely carry cash with me.  But I had taken out $30 the previous day, Not knowing why…

As I turned around to see who this lady was I heard her continuong on..talking to her kids, but I currently had no other details about her life.

I watched for a few seconds, as she begun taking a bunch of school supplies from her cart. I then noticed that her kids did not seem to be ‘school age’

So I reached in my purse and pulled out the money and asked her if she would mind if I helped out with all of that…(school supplies)

She told me that she had money to pay for it. That I was fine.

I asked her if she was a teacher. She said yes! 3rd grade. I told her that it would mean a lot to me if she would take the money. She smiled and said alright, and then thanked me…. then she thanked me several more  times, and shared that the stuff was for her class, and that it was going to be her first full time teaching job. I then cashed out, wished her luck, and left the store.

As I am getting older, I’m reallly recognizing the Lords voice to me, more and more.. it’s a wonderful feeling when you directly hear the Lord speaking to you and you are able to respond. Amen!

Getting back to my sales—

Even with my sales down last month, I didn’t fret, and continued to pick up cheap yard sale finds for the next couple months, in conjunction to my weekly thrift hauls. 

I tend to put 20% back into the reselling business each week. God has been so faithful in providing and guiding..
So tonight I’m sitting here with a smile on my face… feeling very happy that with this weekend sales alone, it cover the cost of two of my kids Christmas gifts.

My son is getting a Kindle upgrade, and my daughter is getting a keyboard like her sisters.

I was also able to spruce up the house with a few needed things.

What did I sell over the weekend:

Two pairs of shoes. 

Two Halloween costumes.

A new SpongeBob Halloween DVD

And two blouses.

I have twenty more than myself to list this coming week, which were unplanned freebies, which will be 100% profit.

Did I mention how fauthfulnthe Lord is?! ❤️

#13 Lattes’ and Cookies

Yesterday went nothing as I had planned. A prime example on why I stopped planning years ago.

I didn’t finish my book, in fact, I didn’t read at all. 
I did manage to get the rest of every thing in the house listed. No death pile whatsoever.

I didn’t go to the gym, or miniature golfing. 😔And the weather has been just beautiful! 71 all day. 

I did spend lots of time with my kids. Always a good thing. 🙂

My husband came home we went to the dry cleaners to drop a couple coats off. 
Also, 

I bought a vintage fur stole last month to resell, but I can’t for the life of me figure out what type of animal it is from. I payed up on it. $20

Here are some pictures:

I suppose only Margaret Hanley knows for sure. 😐

I thought it was mink, initially, but the dry cleaners said it may be chinchilla. I’ve heard of a chinchilla, but admit, I had to google it what they looked like. 
My guess was fox. It feels nothing like rabbit fur, and doesn’t appear to have been dyed.

I can’t get it dry cleaned without having it authenticated. 

Apparently, I can take it to a taxidermist to have them verify what kind of animal it is. So I plan to do that next week. If anyone has any ideas though, please share.

Okay,

I then had a store return, and since we were in the city, we went out to dinner afterwards.  

Sage Brush Steakhouse. 

Nothing fancy, but pretty good.
I’ve never been there before. A friend told me how good they were, so wanted to give them a try. 

The atmosphere was so, so…Kind of old timey. But the service and the food was super.  

Afterwards, I went sourcing…Which I said I wasn’t going to do. 😏

 I won’t complain, because I did score some great shoes to resell. 

Banana Republic gold flats. Size 9.5

Cap Toe Stewart Weizman flats size 7m

Pointy black Madewell flats. Size 11

Black leather Birkenstocks. Size 34

Black patent leather Tommy Hilfiger 4″ loafers. Size 10m

And the cutest pair of Anthropologie bird themed flats. If they were only my size. They are from Anthropologie. Size 9.5

$20 total, and I should be able to flip them all for $130 
I also picked up a Lularoe swing tee. Size XL

And a linen Ralph Lauren polka dot blouse. Size 2x

So it was worth the thirty minutes of shopping, for certain. 😀
Afterwards, we were going to go to the movies, but we couldn’t agree on what to see, so we went to Starbucks for cookies and lattes’

Pumpkin Spice Latte’

Maple Pecan Latte’

Fall Harvest Fox cookie.
It was a very good night….Even though it didn’t go as planned. 🦄

#12 Fun Friday

Yesterday was another so-so day. I even managed to get my rear out of bed by 7:30am. 

But to be honest, getting up early really didn’t make me feel any better then any other day. 😐

I managed to get the rest of my listings up before school, and managed to make my kids their favorite lunch…meatballs and macaroni and cheese. What a protein pair that was!
When my husband came home we picked up one of my daughters friends and headed to the YMCA.
Everyone went swimming, and I went to the workout room to use the elliptical.
I have gained eleven pounds these past couple months. All thanks to being on a new medication for acne. ACNE! 😔

I plan to write all about that ordeal over the weekend. *sigh*
But in a nutshell, I’ve been having a sudden spurt of hormonal acne. I’m much too old to have ANY acne, so I went to a dermatologist and they hooked me up with a medication, along with a $90 tube of Retin-A. 
Anyways, this new medication that I have been on for the past two months has the horrible side effect of weight gain. They did warn me.. but I thought I’d be different..
And now I am asking myself…
Weight gain? Or adult acne? 
Honestly, they are both equally undesirable in my opinion. 😐
That all shared, I did manage to do another workout last night. 
But then we went to sheetz afterwards. 

Sheetz is like a 7-11, for my Northern readers.   

And while I didn’t get any food like everyone else, I did get one of their new cold brew coffee floats that probably has a bazillion calories. 

Afterwards we dropped my daughters friend back off at her house and headed home. 
I had five packages to wrap up from daily sales. 
I sold two Halloween costumes yesterday, a bottle of perfume, a pair of converse, and a pair of Algeria sandals. 

A lot of people get paid on Thursdays, so it always seems to be a good day in sales. As well as Holidays.
I then checked Firestick to see if IT, or Mother, was up yet. But Nope!
Finished Wonder Women. 

Prepped some food, and then called it a night. 

Todays goals, besides my daily obligations, are– Finishing a book. I’m currently rereading “13 Reasons why” and a book about Lucid Dreams.

I also need to do a Home Economics assignment with one of daughters. 
My son asked me late yesterday, why there are so many different religions. 
So I need to try to explain that to him later today. I need to try to figure out how to explain it in simple terms. 

He also wants to know why when people get old, they stop going to church.

(His sister told him that it’s because when you are old, you already have your ‘Fire insurance’ sorta speak…. so we need to have a one on one about all of that.)

I’m contemplating working out again..I sleep so much better on the evenings where I workout.
 I have a store return to handle with tonight. Contemplating whether it’s worth the $3, standing in line, etc.

I’m also toying with the idea whether to workout, or take the kids to play miniature golf.

I’m going to try to not source this weekend at all. 
Hmm, and that’s about it for Fun Friday. 
Break time over….

#11 Mid life crisis’

I hear everyone tends to go through a mid life crisis’ between ages 40-50 years of age.

Men generally complain about the their wives during the metapause process too. One of the same perhaps? 

Both men and women have a certain period in their life when they feel just meh, for lack of better wording. Unhappy. Discontent. Bored. 
But if we all know this, and it seems that everyone goes through a spurt of discontent in their lives; mainly upon reaching middle age… why not start praying for God to intervene years prior. This would be so helpful!

It’s so important to teach this to newly married couples. Start praying now! 

It may sound selfish, but I almost feel it’s unfair to complain about your unhappiness.

I say this now because I’m past it. 

I was terribly discontent a decade ago, but was not middle age at all. 

I was unhappy because my life got uprooted and placed in a pile of, dare I say, sh*t?

A rose bush uprooted and placed in a field of daisies would never be happy. Would it?

Unless that rose was actually meant to be a daisy..

But never mind about that. 😉

I am talking about middle age ruts.And what people can do to remove themselves from them..

I don’t think it’s enevitable. I think we do have some control over it.

I still don’t believe we can choose to be happy, it we are miserable. But we can start praying while we are content and happy for our futures. 

It always feels like the most praying goes on when you are not happy. 

But if we start teaching to pray just as consistent when we are happy…

Anyways, this is something I have started teaching my children. 

Bloom where you are planted. 

Gosh! I wish someone would have taught me this years ago….

#10 Daily Blogs.

Today was an okay day. Again, too busy and unorganized.

I overslept from being overtired. Grr!

And BTW, (Has anyone ever heard of the alarm APP…. Alarmy?)

There are three different options-

1. Solve a Math equation before being able to shut it off.  

2. Shake your phone 100 times to turn it off.

Or, my personal favorite…you can scan a barcode in your bathroom or kitchen before bed, and you will have to get out of bed and re-scan that very barcode in order to shut your alarm off. What ever it takes, right? 😉

Anyways,

I only had a few hours to take good pictures in the natural light.
My backdrop is set up in me bedroom and only allows me a few hours of quality light.

I had less kids today, yet still didn’t manage to finish, due to my multi-tasking.

I’m really disappointed in myself for not prioritizing my day better. I know it happens with everyone. But we are all our worst critics.

I did most of my drafts, and then listed about a dozen new things from yesterday’s finds.
I still have shoes to clean tomorrow. And then list.

Alas’, I am proud of myself for getting a workout in today. I love the elliptical machine so much, but have not been to the gym for a while. Spent the past few months swimming instead.
I’m pretty sure I will be sore tomorrow with my diving back in and not taking it slow.

But after much prayer… and pep talks throughout today.. I did it!
Before church even.

Getting physically AND spiritually fed in the same day….
Now THAT feels good!

I’ve still been privately studying where people go when they die. Reading a bunch of different views. Including the ones that have been shared with me this past week through email and messages. Thanks guys!

As always I am motivated to have a better day tomorrow.

God willing.

I sold three things today that I just wrapped them up. Two tops and a razer.

Now off to bed.

Tomorrow will be a better day.
If anyone feels led to share…

What motivates you on the daily?

#9 Another Day

Today was a good day. So exhausting though. 

I had to do a double day of school with the kids yesterday because we all had dentist appointments this morning. 
So yesterdays school session ended at 9pm. 

I then worked till midnight. 
Then went to bed at a bit after midnight. 

This morning I was up at 5:30, to get everyone ready for the dentist. 
We are generally there the whole morning. 
I didn’t have time for my morning pep talk, but did manage to spend the first 15 minutes in prayer. That never seems like enough time though. 
I have been trying to motivate myself with morning pep talks lately. 
“You are Wonder Woman”

“You are Super Girl”

“You are the Beast-master”

“You can crush anything!”

“You have your hustle on!”

“You can do this!”

“YOU LOVE MORNINGS!”

😂

So by motivation, I really mean waking up ‘excited, not grumpy’ Mind over matter pep talks. They haven’t worked yet, but I’m not a quitter. 😉

It has been a life long struggle to wake up early, yet in a good mood. 

~After the dentist I had a friend pick me and my oldest daughter up for lunch. 
Then afterwards we headed to the outlets. 
I found a very nice pair of Tory Burches for $4.29. I should be able to flip them them for $60

I also found a pair of Minnatonkas for $4.29.They will only go for $30 though.

 I found some Jack Rogers that will go for $50. Some Uggs. 

And some assorted name brand clothing items, along with a few vintage items. 

Very productive day..