Secret Santa Success!

So, I know it was a little rough this go-round. We all had some stuff going on. Mailing issues and what have you.. but after checking everything out and seeing how people have reacted to all their goodies.. I think we can call our official A.S.S. a grand success!

I think we all had a blast with it, the shopping will get easier, the mailing will become easier. Maybe we've all learned little things, like sending from Canada into the States is a lot of trouble, perhaps Amazon is the way to go! LOL Also, shipping from the States to Canada was less of an issue, but having to write out every single item that was in the box, estimate it's value, estimate it's weight, use multiple forms to get it all listed.. I mean and on and on! LOL.. it was all good fun though. I am glad we all got to have that spark of excitement when we got the mail.

I don't know about you girls, but I had a blast! I am wondering if doing a simple themed Card exchange would be fun? Your thoughts? Maybe on a NON-holiday time dealie.. we can figure out some other type of exchange. COOKIES! lol Or.. Candy! LOL.. whatever.. I know that's sorta crazy, but it's just a thought. Anyway, I'd love to hear your thoughts on how this all went. Perhaps what you learned or what you'd do differently next time.

Thank you girls for giving me something to look forward to this season, I don't typically enjoy this time of the year, so this has been truly wonderful for me. Thank you all so much! Love you all!

<3
~D

Project A.S.S. Details

Good Morning Ladies I am here to send a reminder about the Association of Secret Santa's aka A.S.S. I have got a few questions I wanted to address to everyone so that maybe they can help things go a little smoother. The first rule of A.S.S Club is... Sorry could not resist.
1. DEADLINE DATE???? yes we have that too, Nov 30 you can mail now if you have it ready. We are aiming for Nov 30 in hopes to beat the Christmas rush on mail an dto make sure we get delivered to our lovley ladies we were A.S.S.igned .

2. What about an address? Well that one is a bit tricky as we have a lady our sweet Kelly in Canada, so automatically when you get a package form Canada it is going to be Kelly. Unless one of our ladies just for kicks went to Visit Kelly and mailed her package to confuse someone :). So a Address? WILL NOT make a difference or ruin the Secret Santa the Inside of the package is still secret. so if you feel the need to put your name and address on the package it is no big deal, I will be putting my address on my ladies, just to ensure it's arrival or return in case.

Also Fed ex is shipping back to normal which means UPS and U.S.P.S should be after the wake of Sandy.

3. This is going to be the hardest part for you ladies when you receive your box do not open the contents. you have to wait closer to Christmas. We were aiming to open them Christmas day, but... I think everyone will be busy that day and the eve with activities of their own. So I will place a poll for a Secret Santa Date we can all vote on to open and Share our goodies with Pictures.

4. Enjoy Enjoy Enjoy. and then Smile because every one here this is Conquer life's first Secret Santa and every one participated.

Happiness Jar!

So, I was skimming around online as I typically do when I can't sleep. I was thinking of some of the projects we've discussed & I never finished my Happiness Jar. I did the chores I needed to get done, so I got to reward myself with buying a simple, inexpensive jar.

Having said that... I ran across this..

Reusing Condiment Jars

I have saved several small jars & I KNEW I had a cause/reason for that.. Now all I need is to sand down the tops of the jars I saved & adhere some sort of knobs onto the top & I have some really cute lil jars! Just thought I'd share.. Mine is underway!

Please don't forget to vote!

Ok ladies, you've got a little time left, please cast your vote for names on the right hand side. I know some of you already have,thanks! This is for those of you that haven't had the chance yet!

Additionally, I will be going back to FB and getting Lisa's instructions on A.S.S. and posting them here to make finding them easier. As the group tends to participate and it can become difficult to locate information.

If you've any ideas please let me know!

Happy Thanksgiving Girls!

I just wanted to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving { Kelly, round 2 for you this year, not that you'll celebrate it.. LOL }.

Whatever you do tomorrow, I'd like you to know how much you mean to me and that I'm thankful for each of you. Your friendship has been so special to me & I cherish it. I am so glad we can go through life together. You girls make me happy to have girlfriends! I hope your day is full of family, friends, love, & peace.

Happy Thanksgiving!

xOxOx

I am so excited for our..

A.S.S. project!

I've got some goodies ready & I've got to get some other goodies made.. I'm excited, excited about it! So thankful every day to have you wonderful girls to share with. I look forward to seeing what you girls have to say every day. I am sorry I've not been around so much the past couple of days, but I'm trying so hard to get this place in order so we can have a holiday. I promise to be back in a few days once this is all settled and in order! I will be back before Thanksgiving, will be checking back in on you through-out the time I'm not on as much.

SO EXCITED FOR A.S.S...

LOL.. so yeah! <3 Love you girls!

In the spirit of the season!

Just wanted to embrace the season & switch up our look! Lemme know what you think of the Fall themed site. I will attempt to keep up with that and will switch the closer it gets to Christmas. Also, please let me know, via group if not here, if you are having issues commenting or posting. I've set it to allow members to post. Which means you need to be logged in. But, you should be able to still post. Also, if you plan on making a post and it won't let you, please let me know that too, I might have to tweak the settings for the Authors.

Have a great day!

Santa's Little Helper

Ok my lovely ladies!

I would like to ask you to please do 2 things for me.

First:
Please create a list of small items that you'd like to get for Christmas. Not necessarily for the A.S.S... but I'm sure it would help your Secret Santa make their task a little bit easier.

Ex:

• Votive Candles
• Tea
• Stickers

Second:
Please create another list, a list of 15-20 { or up } of words that make you feel good, or inspire you, or otherwise give you a positive feeling.

Ex:

• Serenity
• Peace
• Success

Challenge!

But before I go I am challenging all of you to do MY daily challenge today.. Here we go:

.•**•.¸( ¯`•.¸* -~… Challenge …~- *¸.•´¯ )¸.•**•.

::: How to do it ::: Spend a minute making an uncensored list of everything you want in your life for the next year. On the list, include your desires for your health, money, friendships, romantic relationships, career, and hobbies. Circle the top two things you'd like to achieve. Are there steps you can take to make them a reality?

::: Why it matters ::: Thinking about how you'd like your year to go helps you clarify your goals, and making a list makes them that much more real. Once you've picked the two that are most meaningful to you, you can begin to identify the concrete, measurable actions you need to take. After all, every big success comes only after many mini ones.

::: Fun Fact ::: The original 1977 "Book of Lists," a compendium of hundreds of lists on unusual topics, was banned in parts of the United States due to its racy content.

.•**•.¸( ¯`•.¸* -~… The End …~- *¸.•´¯ )¸.•**•.

Share with all of us what your goals are for the next year! I will follow suit as well!

The Happiness Jar!

This is SUCH a simple, very little to No cost thing to do.. & It's fun!

I posted the guidelines to the projects page, check it out:

I don't have a decent jar to work with right now.. but I think I will make a trip to the 99¢ store to see if I can find a cheap one & I will paint it or some how make it a pretty little something.. I'm excited to see what we all make.. I think it will be a good way for us to focus on the positive & be able to reflect back on the good things.. even if we don't always think of them.

<3

Member Creations!

So, via FB, here are some of the [CL] creations that the members have made:

Melanie: 

Dawn:

Leah:

Lisa: 

Growing our site..

Not exactly growing, but I figured, via Blogger, we can have only 10 independent pages. Since we are already pretty close to that, I am going to hijack another of my old blogs that I never REALLY spent a lot of time working on. But it's a shame since it fits right in with what we are doing here on CL. The site I am going to "join" us up with is called XoXo Cupcakes.. surprisingly has quite little to do with cupcakes. It was more along the times of Beauty, Organization, DIY projects. At least that was the intent of it. So, since we do much of that here at CL, I figured we'd have a softer side too. Give us a 2nd place to post whatever we find suits our needs.

I'm not trying to make it more complicated, I just want to make it easier for us to locate what we are looking for. So.. I'll have a direct link over to XoXo and I'll have one there to link right back here, you'll never have to worry about getting back to either site, it will all just link up. Let me know what you think.

Also, feel free to join there & if you want to be able to post to that blog, just let me know I'll go ahead and add you as an author.

:D

Letter to Self Challenge!!!

How to do it:

1. Letter 1, written from your SUPER-HERO self.. write to the "self" you don't like.. the "fat" self, or the "useless" self, or the "hated" self.. Ask yourself what's bothering you. Tell yourself why you love her so much { as if you were writing to a good friend.. }, also tell yourself that you are NOT those negative things.
2. Letter 2, written from your negative self in response to your SUPER-HERO self.. Answer the questions, respond to what's wrong, what makes you feel the way you do. What you are struggling with, what's challenging or frustrating for you. Tell your SUPER-HERO self what you need to feel better.
3. Letter 3, written from your SUPER-HERO self back to your negative self. Talk to yourself the way you would to a good friend. Positive reinforcement, compliment what is positive. Understand the pain, feel what the issue is, advise the negative you accordingly. Get at the root of the issue, find out what to do to forgive, forget, let go. Offer support, love and acceptance. Keep reminding yourself of this. Remind yourself you are worthy of taking these steps, of healing, of making the world right for yourself, no matter how long it takes.

I would say, go 1 step further and if you type up letters to yourself, keep them in a place that you can find them later and review when you need a boost. Perhaps print them, put them in an envelope and keep tucked away. If you hand write them, hide them away in a special place { journal, favorite book, jewelry box..}. These letters, just by writing them really help expose our feelings & what may truly be hidden inside us, we start the healing process just by getting it out. 

DEADLINES for the challenge in steps!

Week 1: Letter 1
Due: Saturday, November 3 

Week 2: Letter 2
Due: Saturday, November 10 

Week 3: Letter 3
Due: Saturday, November 17 

Member Blogs!

As an added bonus, I am linking up to some of our members blogs.. So far I've got a blog from Lisa & from Kelly, in a few minutes I'll be updating the site to reflect those links on the left. Keep an eye out for the new blog links!

Thanks ladies for sharing! <3

Fitocracy

So, random update..

I just joined Fitocracy. I tried SocialWorkout, found it to be cumbersome & counter intuitive. So, since I know some of you already use Fitocracy, I thought I'd give it a shot. I like how you can pick your items from a list to add them to your workout. It's all brand new to me, so if anyone has tips or advice, please do share!

PS.. How do I find you on Fitocracy? I found Lisa.. LOL, but that's all.

Have fun with it!!

Ok Ladies!

I've sent the emails out to you to invite you to be authors. Check your inbox! Also, check out the inspiration page for a couple goodies!

<3

Everyday you get a little bit stronger..

I just wanted to share this with you today.. I think it's a good song & I know some days feel like nothings going to get better or that we are not enough, but.. remember you are stronger than you know. Stronger than you give yourself credit for.

<3 You ladies

Join The Group

On the left side of the page, you'll see a Members section, below that is a button that says "Join this site" please click that and sign up. It will keep us all connected and allow you to post and such. I believe it also allows you to send messages to one another.

Thanks ladies!

Welcome!

Coming Soon..! We are going to have our very own page! To help make finding things even easier! Also, to keep us connected to our goals & make tracking everything better. This is meant as a supplement to our Facebook group. You girls are absolutely the BEST & I want for us to continue to have the BEST experience with Conquer Life! We'll keep our FB group for our private discussions & photos and use this site primarily for the Events & Projects so they don't flood over everything else we've posted on the group!