When Adam and I agreed that I would stay home (I’m a lucky girl) I realized that I while I wasn’t bringing in any income (this was pre-virtual assisting), I would need to make it my job to save our money and I dived into extreme couponing with a whole heart. Now, don’t get the wrong idea – I’m not clearing shelves or adding rooms to my house to stockpile four thousand boxes of ramen – far from it. Still, I try and stock up on things at their rock bottom price and I love, love, love saving money. I used to spend hours clipping and filing coupons into my (ridiculously large) coupon binder and then hauling that bad boy to the store. Yeeeeeeah, carrying that thing around grew old pretty fast and so did giving up my Sunday afternoons to clip, clip, clip coupons. It was just too much. You guys know…
The Fringe Hours
I am a member of the launch team for The Fringe Hours. I was given an advanced copy of the book for my review. The opinions presented below are 100% mine and 100% honest. #FringeHours You guys, if you’ve been following along with me for awhile, you know that I struggle a lot with my depression and a big part of that is making time to take care of myself. I’m good at the basics – showering, eating (most of the time), brushing my teeth, etc, but actually taking time to nurture my brain and my spirit? Um, not so much. I can’t express to you how important downtime and “me time” is to someone with mental illness. When life feels like you’re constantly trudging through the mud, you need to recharge. It’s just hard to justify it when sometimes you live in a perpetual state of being behind on life.…
Happy New Year – One Little Word 2015
Happy New Year friends! I hope everyone had a great holiday. Once again, I have chosen a word to help define and drive my year. In 2014, I chose Simplify and it truly did make a difference. I am still constantly striving to simplify, simplify, simplify. “How can I do this easier?” is a common question in my mind along with, “Am I over-complicating this?” I have a tendency to make things more difficult than they need to be. Having simplify as my word for 2014 really helped me break away from that. I’m going to continue to strive for simplicity – it’s one of the goals of my blog after all – but with a new year, comes a new word. For 2015, I’ve chosen Act. I’m hoping it will help remind me to act frugally, generously, kindly and with the community in mind. I’m still fleshing it…
Simple Southern Sides for the Holidays – Pear Salad
OK I’m going really old school on you today friends. The other day I shared my mom’s recipe for deviled eggs and today I’m sharing another of our family’s traditional Thanksgiving and Christmas sides – pear salad. Now, I’m not going to lie here. This is an old school recipe, and to a lot of people it sounds really weird or unappetizing, but I promise, it’s actually quite tasty. It’s also the first recipe that my mother turned over entirely to me. I remember feeling so special and like it was such a huge responsibility, when in fact, it’s really simple to make and even your kids could put it together. Pear Salad – Ingredients: Canned pear halves Miracle Whip Maraschino cherries Shredded cheddar cheese To put the “salad” together, drain the pears and lay the halves flat side up on a serving dish. Place a small dollop of Miracle Whip in the hole…
Easy DIY Neon Christmas Tree Topper
Today, I’m sharing with you my very simple neon Christmas tree topper. I know, neon doesn’t really scream Christmas, but I’m running with it. And there’s a funny (to me) story that goes along with it. When we moved to our new house in 2012, Adam mentioned having two Christmas trees and I blanched. Two? Really? Sure, we had upgraded from our sad “Charlie Brown” tree that cost us $20 when we moved in together, but it seemed indulgent to have two. You’re talking to a girl who grew up in a small ranch style house in a firmly middle class neighborhood. Rich people had two trees. We had one. But, Adam and I still had that small, sad tree hanging around and I hated to just dump it in a landfill, so I decided to embrace the idea and run with it. It helped that I gained points with…
Simple Southern Sides for Thanksgiving – Deviled Eggs
This post is part of a blog hop hosted by Kirsten at Sweet Tea and Saving Grace. To see all of the submissions for this hop, check out the link up below. Do you guys have any food traditions for Thanksgiving? For me, it’s things like my mom’s deviled eggs or her pear salad, or even her dressing or potato salad. Some of my favorite childhood memories are of “cooking” with my mom on the holidays. I don’t think she ever used a recipe and I was happy to be “taste tester”. When she died a few years ago, it became really important to me to carry on her traditions – especially food. Knowing that I have her food at my holiday table makes me feel like she’s there with us as we celebrate. (Did you know that that’s how our departed family members “visit”? As long as you…
Eyes On Your Own Paper (FREE Printable!)
You guys, if I’m honest with you, I’m struggling a bit lately. Not with anything major, just dealing with a decent amount of “Why can’t I be her” and “OMG look at their gorgeous house” and “UGH, Look at my messy house”. It can get pretty damaging if you let it simmer and frankly, my brain is on boil. It’s not that I’m not totally grateful for what I have. Frankly, I know I have way more than most and Adam and I have been discussing a lot about how we can get more involved with our community. Up to now, we were the “donation” type of people and that’s great. We love being able to support good causes financially – even though our donations are likely a drop in the bucket – (SEE! There I go again! Comparison…) but we want to be actively participating too. I’ve heard other bloggers say…
Simplifying My Goals
As part of my journey with One Little Word this year, I’m constantly looking for ways to simplify my life, and frankly, I could do so much more. Life with a growing business, two very energetic puppies, a blog and of course, most importantly, my sweet husband is often beyond my ability to balance. This year, I’ve tried to set goals monthly rather than setting resolutions. It’s actually helped me get a few things done around here. But after our first month with our puppies, our house is a mess, I’m a mess, hubby is a mess. Things are nuts around here and I just can’t focus on simplifying. (I’m lucky to focus on a shower and clean laundry.) So I’m trying to accept some help in the form of The Homekeeping Society from Clean Mama. Basically, it’s a monthly subscription program to help you get organized and make progress…
My Favorite Make Up Remover – WaterWipes!
This post is sponsored by WaterWipes and Mommy Bag Marketing. Although I received product and financial compensation, all opinions are entirely my own. One of my goals this year, along with simplifying of course, has been that I want to share more of “me” with all of you. One of the big things about me that you haven’t heard me talk about much is my love of make up. No joke. I might just be a make up hoarder. 😉 Seriously, my husband cringes when we head in to Walgreens. He knows I’ll be there scoping out the make up aisles for at least half an hour. Sorry love! Here’s proof: But with all that make up comes a need for make up remover. And since I have sensitive skin and allergies it’s been difficult finding something that won’t stuff up my nose or make me break out like a teenager. Even…
KitchenAid Mixer GIVEAWAY!
This post contains affiliate links for Ang at Juggling Act Mama. If you make a purchase (which is NOT required for entry) using any of the links in this post, she will receive a commission for your purchase. I am not compensated in any way. Welcome to the KitchenAid Mixer Giveaway event! We’re giving away a truly awesome prize today – a KitchenAid 5 Qt. Artisan Series with Pouring Shield! What’s not to love about that? Y’all. When Ang from Juggling Act Mama asked if I wanted to be a part of this giveaway, I jumped at the chance. One of my most prized possessions is my KitchenAid Mixer. No joke. We even have attachments for food processing, meat grinding and I am totally going to splurge and get the ice cream making attachment. I really, truly feel it’s a must have item in the kitchen and I am super…