Archives for August 2017

Why I Date My Husband

August 29, 2017

Can I just be real for a minute? I am literally one hundred percent obsessed with my husband. I am that wife. I am the wife that other wives make fun of because I cry if my husband goes out of town. I don’t enjoy being away from him. I look forward to 5:23pm every single day and I shamelessly stand at the front door with our baby and watch for his Jeep to roll down the street. I absolutely love him and he is my very best friend.

And just as much as I love and adore him, it is easy for me to get bored with him. Why? Because life. Seriously, life just has a way sucking the energy out of you with its mundane ways. My husband gets home at 5:23pm, kisses me 13 times, grabs the baby, and ushers me off to the gym. I get a good workout in, come home and finish making dinner just in time for our baby to go to bed, and then we eat dinner. We both have a million things on our minds, so our conversations are scattered and less intentional than we would prefer. Then we both have work to do because, well, we both own small businesses. And before we know it, my 9pm bedtime has rolled around (because I am actually 87). And just like that, our day is over….

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

August 28, 2017

white chocolate macadamia nut cookies

It’s that time again. What time, you ask? It’s cookie time. And today the cookie of choice is a white chocolate macadamia nut cookie! Let’s just say my Monday is a whole lot better with a few of these in my hand.

This cookie is part of my You Asked For It series, and it was requested by a dear friend! I have been working on getting these just right, and I am beyond pleased with the result.

There’s just something about a macadamia nut. Another friend and I always joke that they are like little balls of crunchy butter. They are just so dang good. Also, every time I get my hands on a macadamia nut I am immediately taken back to our honeymoon in Maui. We snacked on macadamia nuts the entire time and even brought back a huge load of them. Unfortunately they are long gone. They truly are so satisfying though. Any chance we have to fit them into our budget, we load up….

10 Simple Tips For Flying With A Baby

August 24, 2017

Hi mamas! I have been so excited to share tips for flying with a baby for quite some time! Since I am flying with my baby several times in the next few weeks, it seemed like the right time! While our baby has already traveled quite a bit in her short eight months- including seven states- a lot of it has been road trips, not flying! Because of that, I turned to my friend Micah for these tips! She and her husband traveled internationally twice before their baby was even 5 months old! Her tips for flying are fantastic!

I’m Micah and I am married to an awesome man named TJ, and together we produced one adorable baby named Abner, born on March 22, 2017. TJ and I met while doing missions in Africa so we knew from the get go that we would be a flying family. Through a series of events we ended up getting airline credit that needed to be cashed in before August of this year. We decided to book a trip to Ireland in June and then go to Ecuador with my family in July. Before we left I researched different tips on traveling with a child but I couldn’t find anything about flying with your baby, so here is my attempt to shed a little bit of light on the subject.

…

How To Eat Clean On A Budget

August 22, 2017

I am just going to get straight to the point on this one. I know I am not the only person that has heard someone say it is ‘too expensive’ to eat clean! I understand the reasoning for this thought process, I really do. So many ‘clean’ and ‘organic’ supermarkets have price tags that are far out of reach for the majority of us. But even with those high market tags, the notion that it’s ‘too expensive to eat clean’ is just plain silly! If you just know the right tools and tricks, you can eat clean on a budget- even on a tight one!

I’ll just go ahead and be totally open here, although we normally don’t share exact numbers in our finances. My husband and I spend exactly $80 a week on groceries. We spend no more, and we spend no less. And that food also feeds our baby who now eats solids at every meal with us. Within that $80 budget, we eat as clean as we possibly can. And that $80 budget gives us three meals every single day, as well as our extras (coffee, almond flour for baking, dark chocolate).

Some of you may be thinking “there’s no way that’s possible.” Others may already be there! If you already eat clean on a budget, we want to hear your tricks, too!…

The Lie Everyone Believes About Breastfeeding

August 21, 2017

If you are a mom, if you want to be a mom, if you are friends with a mom, or if you just know a mom, you’ve probably heard some pretty strong statements about breastfeeding. And it is likely that you have your own strong opinions about those statements.

The heat of the controversy is pretty much everywhere these days. And while I am a mom, I can definitely say that these controversies were in my face far before I ever became pregnant.

It seems to me like there was some sort of drastic shift a few years ago. All of a sudden there were all of these breastfeeding debates swarming around social media that I had previously never seen or been aware of. I don’t really know what flipped the switch, but the switch was definitely flipped.

A news feed that had previously been filled with simple photos of my mom friends and their sweet babies was suddenly filled with articles and videos created by breastfeeding activists. The agenda in each was the same: to normalize breastfeeding….

How Jealousy Is Holding You Back

August 17, 2017

A few months ago I posted a simple thought on Facebook. It was something like, “being jealous of another person’s success won’t make you successful. It will only make you bitter.” I was pondering the issue of my own jealousy, but also the jealousy of others.

As I thought about jealousy and what it really is, I realized that there is nothing about being jealous that will make you successful. There is literally zero benefit in envying another person’s situation.

I also said, “we need to stop envying others and start learning from them.”

Because that’s the thing, we could learn so much from others if we weren’t busy being jealous.

But too often, we occupy our minds and our thought life with jealousy. We envy another person’s success rather than seeking our own. We literally waste time casting judgements in our minds and speaking negativity over another person’s success.

We waste all that time envying what another person has and being jealous of their accomplishments when we could be devoting all that time and head space to our own dreams and desires….

How To Do Your Makeup In 5 Minutes Or Less

August 15, 2017

Y’all want me to tell you how to do your makeup in 5 minutes or less?

Just kidding, I can’t tell you, because I don’t know how.

Now you feel like I tricked you into coming here? I didn’t, I promise.

What makes this post so completely fun is that I am learning the very thing I want to share with you!

It all started with a promotion! If you don’t know already, I am a Beautycounter consultant. I absolutely love Beautycounter, but to be honest, most of my experience is with the skincare products, not the makeup.

And that’s not because I don’t want to buy the makeup. It is because I seriously have never worn face makeup and have no idea how to even put it on. Yes, I am serious. I am twenty-something years old and don’t know how to use concealer….

Why The Laundry Can’t Wait

August 14, 2017

As a first time mom, I swear I have heard it all. Whether spoken with good intention, frustration, or even bitterness, the “friendly advice” given to new moms is often more than overwhelming. I would be willing to bet that the majority of people giving that advice don’t actually mean any harm. Even still, the ever accumulating advice in my new mom notebook is exhausting. I could share a long list of “just wait,” “you’ll see,” and “that’s a first time mom thing” sort of statements, but I am learning to brush most of them off and move on.

Even still, there are certain pieces of advice that tend to linger in my head. I find myself thinking about them and basically writing a blog post in my own head while having conversations with myself.

The latest conversation I have been having in my head involved one particular nugget of “wisdom” that others have continually shared with me.

“The laundry can wait.”…

Rainbow Chicken Veggie Bowl

August 13, 2017

If a name like rainbow chicken veggie bowl doesn’t catch your attention, I don’t know what will. Maybe the ridiculous beautiful and colorful photo of the best dish I have eaten in months?

If am being honest, I have been in a bit of a dinner funk lately. I find myself challenged and stretched to do it all sometimes. Between keeping the house clean, dealing with a stage 100 clingy baby, playing with wooden blocks nonstop, creating content for my site, copywriting for others’ sites, and creating meal plans for clients, I feel like time is running short.

Yet I have a desire to have a hot dinner on the table for my husband every night when he comes home from work. (Make no mistake- he does not demand this of me. It truly is a desire of mine)….

Zucchini Corn Casserole

August 10, 2017

Do y’all ever crave dishes that make you feel like it’s Thanksgiving? No? Just me? I’m not even ashamed to say that I start craving Thanksgiving in July. I especially start craving casseroles like this ridiculously amazing and entirely delicious healthy zucchini corn casserole.

Okay, that’s not even true.

What really happens is that I start craving turkey, dressing, mac and cheese, and the most unhealthy green bean casserole you could imagine.

But if I gave in to all those cravings every time I had them (which is often), I would weigh seven hundred pounds and all of my gym efforts would be meaningless.

So instead I have to come up with delicious flavorful dishes that remind me of Thanksgiving without all the guilt. Except I never feel guilty on Thanksgiving, but that’s beside the point.

Everyone knows Thanksgiving is a time for casseroles, too, so coming up with healthy Thanksgiving dishes means I get to come up with so many casseroles… like this drool worthy zucchini corn casserole….