Sometimes I feel “icky” when I hear someone start talking about self-care.  It makes me feel like I’m plotting something selfish for myself.  What do you think about when you hear it? Maybe a little backstory would be good here. I come from a family with parents who believed if you weren’t doing something productive, you weren’t doing what you were supposed to.  Work=something productive.  When I was growing up, I never sat down and watched a TV show with my parents.  If my mom watched TV, it was only while she was ironing.  I remember my dad coming home

I plan to truly enjoy this year and create a new pattern that sets the stage for what the next phase of my life is going to be like. It’s my 50th year. That makes me 49.  My birthday is at the end of this week and I’m gearing up for my 50th year.  I plan to truly enjoy this year and create a new pattern in my life that sets the stage for what the next phase of my life is going to be like. I have been working on making a list of 50 things I want to

Take a minute every morning and evening to look forward and backward.  The results can be lifechanging. Quick tip for you today. Look FORWARD and BACKWARD every day. What does that mean? To me, it the simplest way to a wonderful day. 1:  Look FORWARD: Every morning, I suggest that you sit down and write down what you intend to have happen that day.  I’m not talking about writing a list of your To-Do’s.  This is so much more important than that.  Take those to-do’s and take them one step further.  Normally you may write- Go to the grocery store,

Business.  Design.  Sewing.  All comes together in the perfect business for me. It’s Been 5 Years It’s been 5 years since I pushed the publish button for my Etsy shop.  Hunkeedori began long before that so to me it’s felt much longer than 5 years.  I knew owning a business was what I wanted.  How I was going to get there was the mystery. Business.  Design.  Sewing. It all came together in the perfect business for me. It’s been nice having you along for the ride for the past 5 years though.  Today I thought it would be fun to

Today’s post is a “How-To” post. It’s a more efficient way to help those of you who would like to put together a downloadable Hunkeedori planner insert. Did you know I have planner inserts you can download once and print off as many times as you’d like for your personal use? I have the following styles of Planner Inserts available as downloads with even more that are for sale as a phycial product if you don’t want to print them yourself: Yearly Insert Daily Insert Monthly Insert Happiness Planner Daily Vertical Planner It’s pretty simple when you have the right

Do feelings of overwhelm, discouragement and self-doubt fill up your days? Are You A Unicorn? If you’ve never suffered from this and don’t know what I’m talking about then you must be a unicorn and we need to talk!  I’ll need you to share your wisdom with me and teach me your ways. Most women suffer from overwhelm, discouragement and self-doubt because they have more on their plate than they know what to do with.  We all have more than we can do in a day and most things seems urgent and important. What if we took a step back?

Step-by-step instructions for how to order a custom Hunkeedori Travelers Notebook From the very beginning of my business I wanted to make Hunkeedori Travelers Notebooks different, “UNIQUEE” , from all the other types of Travelers Notebooks available.  I didn’t like that there were so few options, or none at all, when it came to choosing a new TN.  WHAT’S WRONG WITH WANTING TO BE DIFFERENT? What I usually found was an already made Travelers Notebook that looked the same as what everyone else already had.  Maybe I’m weird but I wanted my TN to be different.  I wanted it to

Connect to yourself through planning, memory keeping and journaling.  You’ll find you’ll know more than you ever thought possible. I’m not sure if I’ve ever put into words for you the system that I have used in my life that has helped me keep it together, even in the hardest of times.  My system has 3 parts.  They’re not steps.  They can be used in any order and when ever I need them.  I call my Three-part system,  “Uniquee Connection”.  Did you catch the way I spelled Uniquee?  If you’re new to the world of Hunkeedori, you may just think

Have you recorded your memories of being a part of the Covid-19 Pandemic? It’s a whole new chapter of world history. Did you catch that???  WORLD History! You are a part of something bigger than learning new recipes in your pj’s. Maybe you’re like me and haven’t really been touched by Covid-19 other than what you see on the news and shortages on the grocery shelves.  Maybe the hardest thing for you has been having your husband and kids invade your space every hour of the day and night (heard that from a friend ;)) Maybe you’re actually one of

Where Did You Get Your Confidence? I find myself wondering if I ever had confidence.  Maybe when I was a baby?  I honestly don’t remember ever feeling great about myself or that I was capable of doing what my mind so desperately wanted to do.  That makes grown up me extremely sad. What Would You Say to Your Younger Self? I’d love to sit down with little Marla and have a heart to heart with her.  I realize that my young, underdeveloped brain probably wouldn’t be able to grasp all that I want to tell her,  but I’d sure like

Learn the steps to prioritize your week by planning according to your priorities to increase focus. I’m back with Part THREE of my three-part series on Rocks and Sand.  If you’ve missed Parts One and Two, you can find them at the given links.   Come back and join us when you’ve read those.  You don’t want to feel lost with some of the lingo I’m using today. Don’t Forget the Sand Oh sand!  Did you think we forgot about you? How could we?  You make up a great part of our lives.  We see you.  You are not going away

Learn the steps to prioritize your week by planning according to your priorities to increase focus. I’m back with Part Two of my Three-part series on Rocks and Sand.  If you didn’t read Part One, that probably sounds a bit weird.  Here’s a link so you can catch up.  We’re going to dive a little deeper into the process of discovering your priorities, defining your rocks and scheduling them first.  The sand?  It’s coming in Part 3. Have you determined what your rocks are?  What have you distinguished as your priorities?  You will be planning for those first.  All the

Learn the steps to prioritize your week by planning according to your priorities to increase focus. Have you seen the demonstration when an empty jar is filled over halfway with sand?  Then, someone tries to put another jar almost full of rocks in with the sand? Does it all fit? Of course not.  There’s no way all of that is going to fit into that jar! Then, the demonstrator does it in reverse. The jar that is almost full of rocks is shown first.  Then, the jar of sand is poured in over the rocks and miraculously there is room

What stories are you telling yourself? Ya, Ya… I’m a girl of the 80’s. I watched Days of Our Lives every day after High School. Perfect timing KSL. And then again when my first two babies were little… Until I put a stop to that time wasting crap!! Seriously??? I got one hour to myself when my baby was napping and I was choosing to watch a stupid soap opera that never went anywhere?  Truly, nowhere.  I stopped watching it for a few years between High School and having my babies and it took no time at all to be

Excavate Your Mind A great way to become aware of what you’re thinking, and therefore what you believe, is by journaling.  Journaling seems to be the answer to everything As you asses your thoughts, you can decide if you really want to continue believing what you’re thinking.  When you see it written in front of you, it helps you realize if you really think that’s true.  Does it make sense?  Does it feel right? Is it just that crazy part of your brain that takes over now and again and just needs someone to listen?  Be that person.  Listen to

Depression is up. Suicide is skyrocketing. Connection is KEY! I’m feeling like a heart-to-heart today. I’ve been thinking about this topic for quite a while.  It’s hit really hard close to home over the past few years.  It’s become quite personal and I’d love to talk with you a little about it today. Loneliness. It’s becoming an epidemic.  How can that be when we’re more connected than ever? I’ve heard so much research about this.  Depression is up.  Suicide is up.  I don’t need to see the statistics.  I‘ve SEEN the effects of loved ones feeling lonely.  I FEEL it

Writing about our lives gives us memories to hold on to. How do you turn a passing moment into a lasting memory? Have you ever caught yourself saying, “I’m never going to forget this!”?    and then you forget it?  I think they’re valid questions.  Ones worth talking about for a minute today. What Do YOU Want to Remember? Why do we want to remember things? Good things make us happy.  Thinking back on the cute things that a stinky teenager did when she was a toddler makes it a little more bearable to be around her. Memories bring us bursts

We evolve and adapt. Learn and grow. All while we go about living our everyday lives. Do you remember who you were 20 years ago?  How about 10 years ago?  Do you remember what you were like 5 years ago?  Heck, do you even remember who you were last year at this time? Time Moves Fast  (unless you’re the mom of young kids) We evolve to adapt to what’s going on in our lives.  Have you ever thought about that?  If you didn’t have the experiences in your life that you have, you wouldn’t be who you are today? Have

No other person that has ever lived is the same as you. Do any of these sound familiar? “I don’t know what I want. “ “I’ve been doing what everyone else needs and wants for so long, I don’t know what I NEED or WANT.” Man, if I go by that, I’ve been embarrassed for quite a while! Well, truth is, I used to be. Just a Little Shift. But I’ve made a little shift in the way I think, including the way I use my time.  Once I discovered my top priorities, it was actually really simple. If you

Does having a clearer head, feeling more focused and in control sound good to you? You should be journaling. 2020 Is Fast Approaching I know you’re thinking about your 2020 New Year’s Resolutions. You’re a planner.  You think ahead about these things. I’ve got a goal that will change every other aspect of your life.  It will affect how successful you are at all of the other resolutions you set. Why?  #1: You have to be accountable to yourself when you check in every day. #2: When you keep promises to yourself you deepen your self-esteem. What goal could you

Stress relief. Organization. Medical peace of mind. Emotional support. All reasons why planning brings freedom. Why Are You Using A Planner? Not long ago I asked my Instagram family the question “Why did you start using a planner?” and I loved the answers I got. I loved the fact that not many people answered that they plan because it’s part of their Type A personality.  A Planner Does NOT Equal Organized There’s SO much more to using a planner than just being an organized person. I wanted to share some of their responses.  See if any of the following reasons

Choices in designing a Travelers Notebook can feel overwhelming. You can make your Travelers Notebook unique by learning to navigate the choices. Travelers Notebook Lingo is Like Learning A Foreign Language There’s a lot of lingo out there in the Travelers Notebook world.⁠ ⁠ Extra Wide Cashier Standard Fabric Inserts Planner Inserts B6 Stasheedori Walleedori On and on and on  I haven’t made it any easier by giving different names to all the different styles of Travelers Notebooks that I’ve designed.⁠ ⁠ I understand.  There are LOTS of choices when ordering.  It’s exactly why I started Hunkeedori.  ⁠⁠ Hunkeedori is

Gratitude makes life more joyful. Use gratitude to turn negative into positive. Gratitude is King I’d like to take this moment to indulge in one of my favorite activities. Focusing on what I’m grateful for. Nothing gets me out of a slump faster than turning my thoughts to what’s RIGHT in my life instead of focusing on what’s not. Have you found this to be true? Positivity Makes the World Better It’s hard to feel bad when you’re thinking about all the positive aspects of your life. Heck, if you’re reading this, you are living more abundantly than most of

Make moments last longer by turning them into memories. Writing your feelings makes them last. Seems Like Yesterday I remember the days when my kids were little.  Oh, I was SO tired.  So overwhelmed.  I thought it was the hardest time of my life.  Yes, it was hard.  There’s no disputing that.  Remember When?? But when you’re in the thick of anything, it’s hard to imagine something being harder than what you’re going through right now. When I look back, I feel like I’d love to go back to those days when things were slower, I felt like I had

The best way to overcome self-doubt is by making and keeping promises to yourself. How Do We Teach If We Don’t Know? “How can we teach our kids their self-worth?  And by kids- it seems like my adult kids are the ones that struggle with it the most. And how can they know that they don’t need to try to prove their worth to others around them?  And why am I still trying to learn these same lessons?” This was a text I got from a good friend not too long ago.  It speaks to me. Not Just About the