Jennifer Ford Berry

Organize Now: your money, business & career

2011-09-17T11:57:00.007-04:00

Organize Now: 12-month home & activitiy planner

2011-09-17T11:57:00.006-04:00

National Association of Christian Women Entrepreneurs

2011-09-14T16:28:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago I did an interview with the National Association of Christian Women Entrepreneurs. I was so impressed by this group of women that I became a member. I love the fact that these women are supporting eachother to dream big and change the world. If you are interested check them out.

Quote: Live Once

2011-09-12T09:00:00.001-04:00

"You only live once - but if you work it right, once is enough."

-Joe E. Lewis

Live is short and it goes by in a blink. I try really hard to live a life of no regrets. When I was in the 8th grade my three year old cousin was killed. John was the most gorgeous little boy and I had the privilege of babysitting him everyday after school. His passing taught me the most valuable lesson-if God can take a three year old, he can take any one of us at any time. That lesson has helped me go after my dreams (even if I fall) because this is the only life I have and I am not sure how long it will last. Do you have regrets?

Quote: What You Bring Into Yourself and Your Home

2011-09-05T09:00:00.001-04:00

"You cannot control the world outside, but you can choose what you will bring into yourself. If you do not see anything of value in your life, begin by finding one thing of beauty every day until it becomes a habit."

-Author Unknown

I have this little secret, I avoid watching, reading or listening to unpleasant things of the world. My husband likes to say I only like things that are "uplifting". In this crazy world I believe we should protect our minds as much as possible-and especially our childrens' minds! This quote also reminds me that we can choose what we bring into our homes. Our home is the one place on this planet that we can call our own. Try to only bring beauty and joy into it. What thing of beauty did you find today?

Quote: Trust Yourself

2011-08-29T09:00:00.000-04:00

"Trust yourself. Think for yourself. Act for yourself. Speak for yourself. Be yourself. Imitation is suicide."

-Marva Collins

I have to say I think this is something you learn with age. Many times I have wished I could implant this life-learned-lesson onto my children so that they would just know how important it is to be true to yourself (no matter what anyone else thinks). But like so many other lessons, this is something they will have to learn for themselves. Are you being true to yourself or are you trying to imitate others?

The Advance Copy of My New 12-Month Planner Arrived!!

2011-08-22T15:36:00.001-04:00

Thumbs up for mom's new planner!

Here I am with my advanced copy of

Organize Now: 12-Month Home and Activity Planner. Seeing a book (or planner) completely done and

printed for the first time is the most exciting feeling!

The planner is due in stores this October.

Of course I am already using my copy and I love it!

A closer look at the cover...do you like the blue?

Lists 3 calendar years and upcoming holidays.

Inside the planner. The first page of each month gives you

a place to list goals and dates that your bills are due.

Quote: Whatever I Wanted To Be

2011-08-22T15:34:00.004-04:00

"I could be whatever I wanted to be if I trusted that music, that song, that vibration of God that was inside of me".

-Shirely Maclaine

This may be on the most important quotes you can read. If you believe in that gift that God puts in you, you can be anything! God gave me the gift of organization and it brings me joy to be able to use that gift each to help make a person's life better. What song is playing inside of you today?

Quote: Thoughts and Clutter

2011-08-14T14:55:00.002-04:00

"It is ultimately our thinking, more than our outer circumstances, that determines whether we live lives of harmony and peace or pain and despair.

-Marianne Williamson

Marianne is one of my personal all time favorite authors and speakers. Her book, A Return to Love, radically changed my life and my spiritual views. I can not agree with this quote more because I truly believe that our thoughts create our future. If I think about this in terms of clutter I am reminded that many times it is our negative thoughts that keep us from diving in and dealing with our clutter. Are your thoughts taking away the peace and harmony you could have in your home? Are they causing you to live in pain and despair in a space that should bring your family joy? Be honest with yourself...

What To Do With Deep Bathroom Cabinets

2011-08-03T15:56:00.001-04:00

Jennifer,

I love your book - I hope to be organized one day soon!! I have cabinets in my bathroom that are deep and I want to get the best use out of them. I put my make up and lotions, but things always end up in the back and forgotten. I am thinking maybe I should make this my linen closet and use the other closet that is more shallow to put my make up and lotions in. The more shallow closet is right beside the shower, so that is why I keep towels in there. The deeper closet is next to the bathroom counter, so that is why I keep my make up in there. It is a tiny bathroom...I just feel like I am wasting space. I wanted to see what you had to say before I went out and bought any containers to put my items in for the deeper closet. Any suggestions?

Thank you!

Jen H

Hi Jennifer,

Thank you for your email.

Anytime you have deep cabinets you want to place items in some sort of storage container so that you can easily pull items out. Such as clear, plastic drawers...I love these because you can stack them as high as you need and they are cheap! You could also use baskets or the plastic baskets with a handle. This way you can grab the container and pull it up to eye level.

However, I do like the idea of splitting up the bathroom a little just to maximize space. For example, you could keep one shelf of towels and then place the rest of them on one side of the cabinet. That should hopefully free up one or two shelves for beauty products and lotions. The best part about that will be that the products you use most can be at eye level.

Tip: when using shelves always place smallest items at eye level.

Remember, there is no ONE way to organize. Make the space work for you!

Happy Organizing,

JFB

Berenstain Bears Live in NYC

2011-07-20T08:58:00.001-04:00

Playing in NYC Live Now! The Berenstain Bears Musical.

MMAC - Manhattan Movement and Arts Center

248 West 60th Street, New York, NY 10023

I couldn't attend the show so my sister and nephew attended. He is almost 2 and loved it!

Pax says "the bears were silly". They even give out bear ears for the kids to wear!

Adapted from the classic children’s book series by Stan and Jan Berenstain, The Berenstain Bears LIVE! in Family Matters, the Musical brings everyone’s favorite bear family to life in a thrilling theatrical experience that kids as well as their parents will treasure for many years to come. As always, Bear Country is not without its complications: Brother Bear’s grades are slipping, Sister Bear still has a few things to learn about making new friends, and Papa Bear just can’t stop eating junk food. Thankfully, we can always depend on Mama Bear and her loving patience to help set things right. The newest Off-Broadway musical for Mamas, Paps, and Young Cubs in NYC, The Berenstain Bears LIVE! will give boys and girls of all ages the chance to fall in love with these characters, just as their parents did when they were growing up.

Performance dates are as follows:

June 25 - July 16, Sat & Sun at 2pm

July 23 - July 31, Sat at 2pm & 4:30pm, Sun at 2pm

Aug 13 - Aug 14, Sat & Sun at 2pm

Aug 20 - Sep 4, Sat at 2pm & 4:30pm, Sun at 2pm

Picts from Florida Trip

2011-04-21T09:49:00.000-04:00

Doing some final edits for my next book on the plane.

Book Signing at Barnes & Noble in West Palm Beach

Speaking at my college Florida Atlantic University.

Building an Organized Home: Foundation

2011-03-25T11:46:00.000-04:00

Here are some picts of when they put the foundation in for our house. I am rapidly trying to catch up on all the photos here. Currently we are all the way to the dry wall stage! (yes I know I will hurry and post the in between picts) so much going on! I am currently picking out paint and meeting with companies about possible storage solutions (my favorite part!!). What are your favorite companies to work with?

Forms being set so they can pour the foundation.

Here is my Dad and Hubby working.

Cletus taking over where Reece left off and protecting the property.

Building an Organized Home: Part 2 Continued Again

2011-03-25T10:11:00.000-04:00

So one day, after spending a nice, relaxing day on my girlfriend Donna's boat, I came back to find a bulldozer stuck on our land. By the grace of God, my brother-in-law happened to stop by who happens to know how to drive heavy equipment! What a life saver! So in this shot we have my brother-in-law, John, driving on the right helping to push the bulldozer (on the left) out of the ditch. Oh and that's my hubby watching (I mean helping give direction?) LOL.

Add caption

Luckily the bulldozer escaped and could continue making our yard!

I am not sure if our son is being "serious" in this one or "cool".

You Can Do It

2011-03-22T12:57:00.000-04:00

I graduated from Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, FL in 1998. The years I spent there were definitely some of the best of my life. As a young girl from Western New York I must admit it was pretty exciting to live in South Florida! I throughly enjoyed my FAU experience. The school itself is gorgeous and extremely large with over 28,000 students on 7 campuses from all countries and walks of life. I loved the international feel to the school and was excited to meet students from across the globe.

Since graduation it has been a deep seeded dream of mind to one day return to the students with valuable advice. Advice that I would learn along the way of making my own dreams come true. A story that would possibly give them a little extra hope. Proof that they could make their own dreams come true if they worked hard enough and most importantly believed in themselves!

Well, I am SO excited to announce that my day has finally come. I will be returning to FAU on April 11th to speak to the students!!! I am hoping and praying that my message will be helpful and if I can help one young person go after their dream, my trip will be worth it! Wish me luck!

Interview on the Art of Relating Show

2011-03-21T21:14:00.002-04:00

Listen to internet radio with The Art of Relating on Blog Talk Radio

Building an Organized Home: Part 2 Continued

2011-03-16T10:02:00.002-04:00

I love this one because it shows part of our gorgeous views!

Here is our daughter doing her usual favorite pose :)

Building an Organized Home-Part 2

2011-03-15T10:01:00.001-04:00

I am still catching up on posting photos to show you our building process. I will admit this a crazy time for me so my blog is taking a little bit of a back seat! Currently we are in the middle of packing up the house we are living in, I am finishing up my third book, still organizing clients, gearing up for the Spring 2011 Mothertime Marketplace and of course I still have those two little kiddos that are a lot of work! Not to mention building a new house. Here are some more photos of our journey:

Fall 2010: the day the first bulldozer was delievered to put the driveway in.

The kids watching the driveway go in from a safe location!

The driveway is going in!

Lots of excavation being done...be careful of my trees!

Today: Listen to Organize for a Better Life

2011-02-23T09:26:00.000-05:00

Building an Organized Home-Part 1

2011-02-17T18:47:00.001-05:00

As I mentioned earlier, my husband and I are in the middle of building a new house. This has been a long, and emotionally filled journey for us. We have felt every emotion from excitement, to worry, to stress, to joy. We started out full of anticipation and looking forward to building a home that we both designed from scratch. Something we could truly call our own. A place where, after 2 previously owned homes, we could continue raising our children and welcome their children to someday. Then came 6 months of aggravation from our bank that told us we would close our loan in 60 days, which turned out to be 6 months! Talk about people that are UN-organized! They made a happy time in our life into a stress-filled, annoying time! For anyone of you that are looking to build a home soon email me before you go to the bank for the REAL story! LOL

It took us a long time to find land that we both loved and it was a big decision to commit. (where we live there are sooo many gorgeous pieces of property!) But after friends moved to a particular development, we started taking a closer look at it. We fell in love with the fact that we can still be part of a neighborhood but also have acreage and space to roam. The best part is we have the most gorgeous woods. My husband is a huge nature lover and I grew up playing in woods so I wanted my kids to be able to do the same.

Here is a photo taken in late fall of 2009. This was the first day we started clearing the front part of the property-where the house and yard will be located. Thank God for my Dad's help!

Here is our little guy pulling apart a milk weed. I love this picture because 1) he is really concentraing and 2) it reminds me of what I love about "the land" right now...NO TV!
My kids are forced to use their imagination...fantastic!

Always the helper. Here is our daugher helping to "clear the land".

This photo always makes me feel sad. It is a shot of our old dog Reece. Each time we were at the property he laid in this spot-the very front of our land to watch. Always the protector. It always saddened me because I knew he would not be on this earth long enough to live in this new place. A place he so deserved because although this dog lived with us in many places, he never lived where he could run and run and run.

I will continue to post pictures and document this journey we are taking. Have any of you ever built a home? What was your experience like? If you have any advice we would love to hear it!

Give Your Valentine an Organized Bedroom

2011-02-14T20:08:00.001-05:00

Happy Valentine's Day!

How do you spend this holiday? Tonight I made a nice dinner for my husband and kids. We ate in the dinning room, lit candles and the flowers my husband bought me were the centerpiece. We started out the dinner going around the table and each of us told what we love the most about our family. Everyone gave heart felt answers until we got to our 5 year old that stated his favorite thing is "getting toys"! LOL A simple but memorable evening. We have always made a bigger deal out of our anniversary-hey each year you are married deserves a celebration! We reserve that holiday for Josh and I only-NO kids.

Speaking of adults only I want to talk about the master bedroom for a moment. If you want to give your partner a really romantic gift..organize your master bedroom. I recently helped a client organize her master bedroom and she said that it was changing her entire relationship! I have heard this a lot. Why is that? Because the master bedroom is the one place in the entire home that should be for ADULTS ONLY. Meaning decorate with you and your partner in mind: bedding and colors you both appreciate, photos of the two of you and items that represent your life together. Do not clutter it with toys and other items that belong to the kids this is the one room in the house that belongs to the two of you! Keep it simple, tranquil and a little romantic-clutter does not belong! And my most important rule...make your bed EVERY day. I can't think of anything worse than getting in a messy bed at the end of a long day.

Woman's World Feb 14th Issue: I am on page 21

2011-02-08T15:43:00.000-05:00

Check out page 21 of the February 14th Woman's World issue for a great article I did with HGTV experts Donna Smallin and Libby Langdon. The article is called: "Help! My clutter is out of control!"

Procrastination Kills Hope

2011-01-28T15:35:00.001-05:00

Hope deferred makes the heart sick: but desire fulfilled is a tree of life.

-Proverbs 13:12

There are many reasons why people become consumed by their clutter. The list is long so I am not about to go into each reason now, but I do want to discuss one in particular-procrastination.

I see this constantly with my clients. They procrastinate putting that small pile of laundry away and before they know it the laundry is covering the entire bedroom. They procrastinate paying their bills until they end up with a late payment. They procrastinate exercise until they start gaining weight. They procrastinate asking for help getting organized until they are completely overwhelmed by their clutter.

I am not a procrastinator by nature by I have definitely procrastinated. Why do we procrastinate? It is simple... we don't want to do something or we don't know how to do something. Sure you can say, "I want to get organized but I just don't have the time". Wrong if you wanted to do this you would make the time.

Lately I have been busy writing my third book, Organize Now: your finances and work life. One day while doing some research I came across this fabulous little book. The book is called "The Richest Man Who Ever Lived" by Steven Scott. I'd like to share some of what Scott writes:

-"As you complete each step toward achieving a goal, more hope is produced to help you achieve the next step. In other words, true hope becomes the fuel that keeps you moving toward the ultimate fulfillment of a vision".

-"If we fail to take those steps and complete those tasks toward our goal, hope can be put off. When hope is put off, you lose your emotional energy and your motivation. Your creativity and productivity begin to plummet. You withdraw. Sooner or later, you give up on the vision or dream altogether.".

I think this is so true for any goal you want to achieve, but I especially see how clearly this pertains to getting organized. If we keep procrastinating our dream of living a clutter-free life will die. I am constantly telling my clients that if they begin taking steps toward getting an area of their life organized, and follow through to completion, they will renew their energy. This increase in energy will give them the motivation they need to work on the next area and the next, snowballing into a clutter free life! Each time an area is clutter free and organized they will get one step closer to living the life they were mean to live. Sometimes they don't even realize that each goal they meet is giving them hope to realize ALL their dreams are possible.

Are you procrastinating? Stop! Take a step toward achieving that goal today. Need some encouragement? I would be happy to offer some, share your story in a comment below.

This Song is So Inspiring!

2011-01-28T12:55:00.000-05:00

Why I Love to Organize

2011-01-27T13:14:00.003-05:00

Dear Jennifer,

I finished reading your book, "Organize Now!" It's copyright year is 2008. I really like this book, and I think that the format of it is very good. Why do you love to organize?

Love,

Susan Gerrard
____________________________________________________________

Hi Susan,

First of all thank you for your email and I am so glad you enjoyed the book. Why do I love to organize? Great question. There are many reasons why I love to organize but here are the main reasons:

-It is my passion and my purpose. I believe organizing is a talent God gave me and it was given as my purpose to help change people's lives. By helping people to acknowledge and remove the clutter from their lives I am able to help them realize their own goals. Once the clutter is gone, joy and energy return helping these people to focus on achieving their dreams.

-I am motivated by the "before and after" process. There is something exciting about taking a cluttered, chaotic mess and turning it into a gorgeous, peaceful space.

-Less IS more and I love being able to proove this :)

-I am good at it!

I hope this helps you understand why I LOVE to organize!

Jennifer