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Jessica

My Top Tips for Keeping In Touch the Old Fashioned Way

March 8, 2012 By Jessica Leave a Comment

Writing cards and notes to people is very near and dear to my heart. Growing up my mom always had us take the time to write thank-you cards, birthday cards, and get-well cards to family. I loved getting little notes from my grandparents and other family over the years. Unfortunately, with the advent of the internet many people have lost the art of writing cards, but it seems like most people still love getting cards.

My Top Tips For Keeping In touch the Old Fashion Way From JessicaMWhite.com

If you long to get back in the habit of handwriting and snail mail, here are some of my helpful tips to make it easier to do!

1. Keep a stash
I think one of the most helpful things to keep in touch is to have a stash of cards for any and all occasions and particularly some blank ones. I find that places like Michaels, dollar stores, craft stores, currentcatalog.com, and DaySpring always have great packs of cards for relatively little money. Having all of these things on hand makes it that much easier to keep in touch. I don’t know about you, but I don’t particularly have the brain power to remember that I need to go pick up a card for someone.

2. Keep it all together
I have a couple of boxes above my desk in my office that contain different cards and note paper. They’re sorted out so that if I need a birthday card or a sympathy card, I know exactly which box I need to look in. This also helps me keep inventory of what I have, so that when I need it I’m not short.

3. Keep stamps on hand
Having stamps on hand is another way to motivate yourself. You never have the excuse to NOT send something because you don’t have a stamp at hand. I love stamps and will place an order every few months for some of the fun stamps that you can get on usps.com. The great thing with purchasing from there is that I don’t have to go to the post office and for $1 they’re delivered right to my house. I always feel that stamps are another way to perk up my mail. If I’m mailing a birthday card I use a Celebrate stamp.

4. Splurge on a nice pen
I don’t think there is much worse than trying to write (anything) with a crappy pen. If my pen doesn’t glide and scratch the way I want it too or if the lines aren’t the proper thickness I get really frustrated. Having a perfect pen is one of my most important things with writing a card, because the appearance of the writing {to me} is just as important as what you’re writing. {These are my favorites!}

5. Take the time to write clearly
Sometimes I go through a card or two before I’m happy with how the writing actually LOOKS. Growing up I would spend time practicing my handwriting, developing my signature. My handwriting is far from perfect, even now, but it’s a great improvement from what it used to be. Penmanship is one of those really important things when it comes to writing a card, I really wish they still taught this in school. HOWEVER, if you don’t have perfect handwriting don’t let that stop you: As long as things are spelled properly and there aren’t things crossed out, then it works.

6. Keep addresses on hand
Again, this falls into the convenience category. If you have to look for things to write a note to someone you’re NEVER going to do it. Having addresses at the ready is a huge help. I keep a running address label document in word with all of the addresses that I ever mail anything to. This way, all I need to do is open a file and search for the persons name and there it is.

7. Return address labels
I love making my own return address labels in a printing program on my computer. It’s such a great way to dress up the envelope a bit more. Plus it’s so much fun to pick my own graphics and fonts, making them all my own. If you don’t want to DIY labels, then invest in labels or in a stamp. Something that you can look at and be pleased with. I always think of the outside of an envelope as a first impression: If it looks nice people will be excited to open it.

8. Keep a calendar of events
Instead of writing birthdays and anniversaries on each month’s page in your calendar have one smaller yearly calendar where you can always see it. That way you’re never taken by surprise. I created a spreadsheet with each month/date on it, then filled in the information for birthdays and anniversaries.

9. Don’t ever underestimate
Never think that you don’t have a good enough reason to write someone. Very often I will just send someone a note letting them know I was thinking of them and hope that they’re doing well. It doesn’t have to be wordy or in depth: Just a few words shows someone that you took the time to think about them. Everyone knows that everyone else is busy, so knowing that someone else took the time out of their day to let you know that you’re important to them means a lot.

10. DO IT!
All of these can be great tips but if you don’t actually DO THEM you won’t be any closer to actually writing to anyone. Pick someone, anyone, for any reason and send them a card or a note in the mail. I guarantee that you’ll put a smile on their face.

Filed Under: Writing

Cloth Diapers?! You Must Be Insane!

February 25, 2012 By Jessica 1 Comment

Since we’ve already covered the fact that I am indeed insane {known this for a long time} we will move straight into the cloth diapering.

DSC_0147

To sum up this post in only a few words….I LOVE my cloth diapers! I love the colors, I love not buying diapers, I love the super-big heinies my kids have from them!

Making the Decision to Cloth Diaper Triplets {and their big sister} @LifeintheWhiteHouse

With Ave I had purchased around 25 diapers for her. In the beginning we used the old-fashioned prefold style with  the covers {which are super cute!}, since the Bum Genius 3.0s were a bit too big for her.Once she hit 10lbs, unless it was laundry day, she was in her BG3s. I loved the BG3s, my only issue with them was the velcro: It stuck to everything else when I did a load of diapers.

One of the things I most looked forward to with having another child was adding to our stash; a whole bunch of new styles and colors had come out since Ave was born. Then finding out it was triplets we seriously reconsidered cloth diapers: The cost, the work, etc.

I sat down with my calculator and figured out that buying disposable diapers for triplets would be approximately $50 a week at most, $20 at the low end, $80-200 a month. Over the course of one year we were looking at approximately $1000-2000 to use disposable diapers. I knew I could buy enough cloth diapers to last until potty training for around $600-700 (one time cost). Cloth diapers won.

Is it a lot easier to use disposable diapers? Yea, but it’s definitely not cheaper. We have around 60 diapers in our repertoire, mostly BumGenius4.0s {with snaps}, but we have a handful of Fuzzibunz sized diapers {x-small} as well as some prefolds and covers. We went with the BG4s this time because we figured the snaps would last longer and be easier than the velcro (it starts to curl after time and un-sticks…I now know this only happens if you put them in the dryer, which I did once in a while, before I realized I was destroying my diapers by doing so): However, the snaps are killing my fingers. Between snaps on diapers, onesies and clothes I’m anticipating arthritis.

Most people have a diaper genie or something next to their changing table, we have a 6 gallon bucket with a twist lid to throw diapers in until the next wash day. It keeps them contained and they don’t smell.

Laundry? I’m already doing laundry so really what is an extra load of laundry every other day? Nothing really. I use the same detergent on my cloth diapers as on our regular clothes…Purex Free and Clear. Diapers use such a small amount of detergent I can’t say that it’s any great additional expense to wash them.

And…honestly, could this be any cuter?

H, J and E

You can read another post by me on cloth diapering 4 kids at once here.

Filed Under: Cloth Diapers

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