If you follow me on Instagram then you already know I made a big change in my diet last fall. After the 20+ pounds I gained in 2020 (and I already was overweight before that), I needed to do something. And with all of my traveling to visit my grown kids and still 3 at home plus a thriving Young Living business I knew if I made my plan too hard to keep up with I wouldn’t succeed.

I’d tried a few diet plans over the summer, but all of them fell to the wayside as soon as I got overwhelmed with it. Then one day at the end of September I spent time with a dear friend who was already a year into her keto/carnivore journey and we talked a lot about it. I felt drawn to what she was doing and I spent some time learning more about it and decided to jump in.

So I stopped eating carbs and added intermittent fasting to my life. I went cold turkey, which meant I felt pretty icky for about a week but then it leveled off and I have felt great ever since! I set my goal at less than 10 carbs a day and fasting for 18-20 hours a day. I am happy to say that I have stuck close to that since October 1, 2021. Thats almost 6 months. And in that 6 months I feel so much better and have lost 45#.

The even better news is that I don’t feel helpless and hopeless about it like I did for the past several years. That feeling of desperately needing to make changes and not being able to really do it is so hard. I don’t know why sometimes it sticks and other times it doesn’t. I don’t think this plan is the only way or better than some of the others I tried. But it’s been the one that works for me.

I have lots of tips and ideas that I have learned along the way. But the thing that I want to share first are a few of the fave recipes that have really helped me stick to a low carb lifestyle. If I had to eat nothing but meat all of the time I don’t think I would last long with that eating style. I crave variety and to have a few things on my plate with a meal. So I set about finding ways to accomplish that. I am not a great cook, but I do try. In other words….if I can make these so can you!

• 1. Garlic Butter Keto Bread – this is our number one (hubs is doing the same eating style). I make it every couple of weeks and we eat on it for a while. You wouldn’t think while you’re making it that it is going to turn out anything like bread, but it sure does! It’s very filling. I usually eat half a piece at a time, making my half serving 2.5 carbs and 5.5 g protien.

• 2. Keto Crackers – These are my go-to for road trip snacks. I take a lot of road trips so finding snacks to eat in the car is a challenge and these fit the bill. In the recipe she makes them round, but I don’t want to go to that much work so I just cut them into squares. I cook them a little longer than the recipe calls for because I like a cracker that has a little bit of a browned edge. Here they are with my keto broccoli cheese soup. It’s just an estimate, but I usually count 5-6 crackers as having 2 carbs and 4 g protien.

• 3. Keto cornbread – This is yummalicious. Adding the cornbread flavoring to it, about 8-10 drops, makes it buttery and gives it a corn taste. This recipe doesn’t specify which sugar substitute to use, but I use Swerve granular. I like to use a normal almond meal with this recipe instead of the superfine. It gives it that gritty corn texture. I also like these in a cast iron muffin pan. You can use a regular muffin pan if that’s all you have. The muffins are a great size and making muffins means it is already in portion sizes. One of these has about 5 carbs and 7 g of protein.

So those are three that I make a lot. I have a few more I will share soon, but you really should give these a try!

When I make any of these we eat a little and store what’s left in the fridge for the rest of the week, or until it’s gone. I will usually reheat any of these in my air fryer. That means they taste almost fresh as new.

Be sure to come back soon for more of my new food discoveries. They have made life so much better! And hop over to Facebook if you have any great keto recipes to share!

For the past year I have struggled with feeling down. The junk happening in the world, and in my family, has had me dealing with difficult emotions, like most people. I know I’m not alone.

One thing I noticed last summer, out of the blue, is that I was feeling drawn to the color yellow. I have never been a “yellow girl”. I like blues and grays and greens….muted, calming colors. That’s my vibe. But all of a sudden I wanted everything yellow! It started with new sunshiny pool floats, then I got some yellow cups and by the time I was looking for a yellow shirt I knew something was waaayyy off. I look horrid in yellow!

It occurred to me after some soul searching that I might be feeling drawn to the happy color because I was feeling so unhappy. Maybe my brain was begging to be cheered up! So I started gathering lemons for the kitchen and adding yellow flowers to the house and I noticed that I was feeling better. I can’t say it will work for everyone all the time, but it was working for me and something I was organically doing so it wasn’t taking a lot of effort. And since it wasn’t going to hurt anything if I added yellow to my life I felt good about it. And it really did help!

Now fast forward to a couple of weeks ago. Two of my daughters gave me the most magnificent birthday gift….three pictures of my grandbabies that would take up a whole wall in my living room. These would be a shining spot in the house. The only problem was I had never really given any attention to that spot in the room. I just stuck some chairs and a shelf I already owned over there, but they weren’t really right for the space. So when I hung the grands’ pictures I knew it was time to spruce up that spot!

I found a perfect cabinet for the TV to sit on and I still needed some short upholstered chairs. I looked in several furniture stores and wayfair and more internet searches and couldn’t find just the right thing. Then I decided to look on amazon. I did find some the right size and they were YELLOW! My new happy color.

I had to ask myself two important questions…. 1. Is it a good idea to buy furniture on Amazon and 2. Would I get tired of yellow chairs? I got some advice from my facebook friends and decided to go for it.

The chairs arrived about a week later and, of course, I can’t speak for the future Lisa, but today’s Lisa is magically in love with my new chairs and the whole side of the living room that was begging for a makeover!

Here’s the new spot…

Isn’t it FAB?! This area cheers me up so much I want to sit in there and stare at it. But wait…..you haven’t even seen the best part yet. The pics of the 3 grands….

Can you stand the cuteness?! They are the BEST. The photos were taken by my amazing daughter, Patience. You can check out her work over at The Brightness Project. And they were printed and framed by Smallwoods Home. Seriously so wonderful!

Now when we hang out in the living room, which is basically every day, we love-love looking at the new sunny, happy spot! This is the view of the other side of the room, just so you can see the whole space.

I spotted the yellow striped pillow when I was on a Target run with my daughter while I was visiting her in Kansas last week and I grabbed it. It not only pulls the yellow color to the other side of the room, but it’s a fun reminder of our time together.

You can get some sunny yellow chairs of your own on Amazon, or they come in several other colors. And as for comfort, I’ll say they’re pretty good. Not the most comfy seats in the room, but we only need them for when people come to visit. We have plenty of seating on the couches and side chair so I didn’t mind that they are only moderately comfortable. And the price can’t be beat!

Even though it’s been a year of lows and hard times, my little happy spot will be a reminder that everything can be made better with a good attitude and surrounding yourself with happy things. The pictures, the cabinet (which I got at At Home) and the yellow chairs will serve as a good memory of hard times. I think I’m gonna love those chairs for years to come!

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” Romans 15:13

This post contains affiliate links. I only like to products I actually use and recommend. And it doesn’t cost you any more to buy through my links and it supports our family. Thanks ever so much!

It’s been a hot minute since I popped in here and chatted with you. The last 12 months pretty much took me down and I can’t even think of how we all made it through. Thankfully it seems we’re resurfacing and ready for the new season to bring new promises of the world springing to life.

In my world spring means a pretty porch and some flowers around the house. It’s so nice to have a cheerful space and I hope to get some visitors soon so we can sit and chat. I miss that (even though I never completely stopped seeing my friends in whatever setting we could manage). Let’s head outside the front door to the porch and see what’s happening out there…

I made myself a fresh new mat for the front door. Last year’s was pretty shabby looking so I decided to try my hand at painting a plain one. I am really happy with how it turned out!

I made a stencil with my Cricut and some stencil vinyl, but it wasn’t as easy to stencil as I’d hoped. So after I covered as much as I could with the stencil, it was pretty easy to hand paint over it to make it darker. Then I sprayed it with a clear spray paint to help it last longer.

It only took about an hour to make and I love that I got exactly the words I wanted.

One of my boys suggested that to the visitor who doesn’t know us it might seem like we don’t take a shower often enough and that’s why we are oily. But I figure when the front door opens and they smell the beautiful aroma of peppermint or StressAway they will get it. And if not, well it’s fun to be mysterious.

If you have been around the blog for a while you may remember that my plants on the porch are fake. Yes, I am a plant killer and have never been able to keep even a cactus alive. So a few years ago I went out and got fake flowers and every fall they get boxed up and stored and in the spring out they come again, to dress up the porch. I know it’s not as pretty as real flowers, but its a lot prettier than dead plants so I roll with it.

I got the big rug last spring and it’s held up well so this year I added a smaller rug at the front door. I love the pop of black and white buffalo check!

And the little shopping cart by my front door is one of my favorite flea market finds ever. In the fall I fill it with pumpkins and hay and for winter I fill it with wrapped gifts. Now it’s filled with potted flowers.

So I hope you’re as ready as I am for a fresh start for spring! Do what makes you happy and seize the new opportunity for fresh air and sunshine!

And please stop on by for some good conversation and encouragement! <3

In this post are scattered a few links to products I have actually purchased and used and want to recommend to you. By clicking on the links you are using an affiliate code that I made a small percentage on, but it never costs you any more than it normally would!

After telling you about how special my daughter’s wedding dress was, I want to keep the special moments going by sharing all of the ways we personalized that wedding.

I am a big fan of sentimental moments, so I loved finding ways to sneak those little touches into our daughters’ weddings. From the moment our guests arrived we wanted them to feel loved and cared for. Walking up the path when you first arrived you see our front porch, I just freshened up all of my usual fall porch decor….believe it or not we blew all of the leaves away before the wedding and there it is all covered with leaves again. Some things you just can’t control.

We have an outdoor eating area that we use a lot in the spring. It’s a great place to have dinner or just sit around talking. I found that Pavilion sign at a yard sale years ago and still love it, it hangs there year round. For the wedding we moved the tables away and put a sofa and a gift receiving table out there. Over the gift table we hung an old fence section that we used to display pictures of the bride and groom.

I used my Cricut for a lot of wedding projects. One thing I did with it is make signs to place all around. I found old store sale sign frames at a flea market a few years ago and they were perfect for holding these. I used the Cricut print and cut feature which let me design the signs in the Cricut Design Studio, then print them out, then cut them to perfectly fit my frames.

Right next to that table was where we put a little shelf to hold gifts for our guests. Because we were serving street tacos with homemade salsa for dinner, we decided to give each family a jar of our salsa to take home. I used a shelf I built several years ago to go on top of a kid’s desk, turned it sideways and screwed it to the house so it wouldn’t fall over. Then we loaded it up with the jars of salsa we made ourselves.

Right past that walkthrough area we posted the schedule. We didn’t want to print programs, so this was our solution. We attached boards perpendicular to the post and then attached the chalkboard to them.

The whole wedding and reception took place at our home. The guests walked through the reception area, through a gate and down a path to get to the ceremony. We rented round tables and we put up posts to hang string lights. We borrowed the airstream from my sister-in-law, which was the perfect way to block off the street. I used my Cricut to make a quick banner string to dress up the airstream in her wedding colors.

Since the bride can’t eat gluten I wanted there to be nothing at the wedding she couldn’t eat. Because it was part of their first date and their engagement, the couple has an attachment to Steel City Popsicles. We decided instead of wedding cake to have a popsicle cart. My son and I built the cart and chalkboard sign to look like a little street cart. We used their wedding hashtag for the front and umbrella (another thing I did with my Cricut).

I wrote the descriptions of the different flavored popsicles on the chalkboard. Plus we had fun toppings if the guests wanted to get adventurous.

For drinks I really wanted to make it easy, so we just had bottled water, soda and my daughter’s favorite….Topo Chico. It was important to me that every detail reflected our families in some way. Even the trough was originally from one of our high school graduation celebrations. We put the trough up on blocks with a skirt so it would be counter height and then just let everyone serve themselves.

And here are a couple more of those Cricut signs. They were so quick and easy to make!

And this sign was so the guests would know about some of the special touches…

We also had some single serving desserts for those who didn’t want a popsicle. Because it had to be gluten free we made rice crispy treats, our Christmas fudge and our family’s favorite recipe for granola bars.

I made these little bottle labels using my Cricut also. There were some for the tacos and some for the dessert that had chocolate and caramel in them. I also made little stickers for the tops of the salsa take home gifts with this same method!

Her wedding colors weren’t easy to find, so we ended up making the cloth napkins. It was one of those projects we thought would be “SO EASY” but ended up being a royal pain in the booty and I wouldn’t do it again. Seriously ALL of us worked on them in an assembly line for days. It looks pretty though and the bride was happy with them, so that’s a win.

Those little cards on stands you see on the table, they were conversation starters. We drilled holes in small log slices to stand bent wire to make the holder and put messages in them to help our guests get to know each other better! We put three on each table.

Instead of a guest book they wanted pictures of the guests, so we set up a station where guests could get their pic taken with an instant camera and sign their photo for the guest book.

I am going to stop here and tell you about the ceremony and actual reception soon! It’s all too much for one blog post. But what I want you to know from my sharing this is that you can make your wedding day whatever you want it to be! Get creative, don’t feel like you have to do exactly what someone else did. Make it all about YOU!

PS. Here is a tip I learned the hard way from bth weddings. TAKE YOUR OWN PICTURES!! I trusted the photographers would get photos of everything, but they didn’t. Even though we gave them specific lists we don’t have any photos of the sofa sitting area or the popsicle chalkboard or the adorable salsa jar lids or lots of other things. Just snap it with your phone. You’ll be glad later!

I’m going to start with the most recent since it’s more fresh in my mind. I did a lot of personalized work on each of their weddings, trying to make it the dream wedding for their individual styles. Even though I wanted them to have exactly their vision, I still did what I do, which is make it cute to the last detail. I can’t help it, cute details flow through my blood. If I ever have surgery I’m sure the doctor will open me up and find craft scissors and a hot glue gun in there somewhere.

Our youngest daughter, Patience, got married in November of 2018. That sounds like a long time ago when I say it out loud, but it feels like yesterday. Of course, since they’ve moved halfway across the country and had a baby already, I am sure it feels like forever to them. But as the mom just at home missing her it seems like a blink.

They wanted to get married at our house. Yep, that’s right. Just a few months after moving back into the house after our fire we were hosting a wedding here. They a wanted hipster, airstream, food truck kind of vibe at their down home wedding. We had a small budget so we did a lot of DIY projects to pull it off. I’m going to share the ceremony and reception details with you soon, but first I want to talk about her dress.

She knew what style of dress she wanted and we knew it would be hard to find with such a small budget. Can y’all believe what wedding dresses cost?! We shopped and shopped and shopped and couldn’t find anything we loved. Finally she found a strapless dress at a wedding resale store that would work if we could find a cover for the top. Her older sister had worn a cover over a strapless and it was lovely, but they are different sizes so we couldn’t use the same top. After much digging and thinking we had a grand idea….what if I made a topper out of my own wedding dress. Something old, something new. It seemed like a perfect idea.

I got married in the 80s, in case the dress style doesn’t give it away. I mean those sleeves! No one wants to wear that now, which is why we didn’t want to just try using it the way it was.

I pulled my dress out of storage and we took it apart carefully, doing our best to save every piece that was possibly usable. Then we got a bunch of muslin and I started making patterns and samples. I’d cut and sew and tweak and try it on her and make adjustments. I am not a seamstress at all, so this took time and courage.

When we finally had the shape and style she wanted in the muslin I laid out all of the pieces we had gotten from my old dress and started fitting them with the pattern I had made. Slowly I figured out how I would make it work and I set about sewing the dress topper. When I say slowly I am not kidding. For weeks we would try it on her as I sewed one bit at a time to make sure it was working. Sometimes I would have to carefully pick out stitches (from lace…do you know how hard that is?!) and rework it.

Bit by bit it came together. I have the sweetest memories of the two of us sneaking into my bedroom and closing the door in the afternoons giggling and trying on the WHOLE thing, the dress, the shoes, it took half an hour just to get her into it. It was all very hush-hush and the boys weren’t allowed to see anything. It was The picture of classic dress making with pins in my mouth trying to talk and us stepping back and looking at it over and over trying to get it right.

I kept a basket on the floor by my recliner filled with my old wedding dress pieces, scissors, needles and thread. Every night I would stitch on some of the appliqués we snipped off of my dress or I would hand stitch the edging so it laid just right. It was a work of heart.

Finally the day before the wedding I finished it. It was bittersweet to button up all of those buttons for the last time. There were about 40 all the way down the back.

Here’s a closer view. All I did with the dress itself was hem it and add straps (also made with satin from my own gown). But every part with lace that you see was made out of my own wedding dress, including the pearls and buttons down the back! She had a vision for the shape and style and I just did my best to make that vision happen.

It definitely wasn’t perfect, but she loved it. I didn’t get to see their first look of course, that was between the two of them. But I think the pictures say it all. Nathan thought his bride was pretty close to perfect.

They made such a sweet couple on their wedding day. They had saved their first kiss for the altar. And then kissed a few more times on their way back down the aisle.

It was a really sweet wedding and I’ll tell you all about the other details in another post. For now I wanted to focus on her dress and the love and time that went into it.

By the end of the night the part of the dress I’d made began coming apart (not falling apart, just pulling at a few seams). We did a lot of dancing and she threw her arms around her new husband so many times that it really stressed the topper, but it held up long enough to get the job done. It won’t be something we can use again, but we don’t really care. It served its purpose.

While there were many personal details in their wedding, her dress is my favorite. It was so much more than what she wore on that day. It represented family history and time spent together and vision for their future that is unlimited.

Be sure you’re following me on Instagram where I share stories of the beauty of life!

For about a month this was our bedroom….

I say all of that so you know that I had to replace EVERYTHING in my bedroom. Not a shred of our possessions survived except my headboard and the shutters, which I’m in love with and so thankful we were able to clean them and use them again (thanks blinds.com!).

One blessing that came from the fire is that I got to purge and get rid of everything we really didn’t use. It is nice to have a clean slate and arrange the bedroom the way that works better for us. I spent a lot of time planning for the bedroom because it not only is where we sleep, but it’s where I store all of my Young Living products and business supplies. Before the fire all of that was just kind of stuck here and there. But since I had to replace everything anyway, may as well get more organized!

Why don’t you come on in and I’ll show you around.

The bed is on the wall across from the door.

It’s all new, the bed, the tables, lamps, bedding, everything except the headboard. Even the ceiling fan, outlets, baseboards, I mean everything.

I did a lot of consignment store shopping and dug through clearance aisles. Even though the headboard survived, I did repaint it. I built it myself years ago and it was pretty messy looking after the fire and all the scrubbing it needed to get the soot off. I’d actually been wanting to paint it for a few years and never took the time, so I was glad I was kind of forced to do it.

There used to be two recliners sitting in front of the windows, but I always felt like they blocked the gorgeous sun that comes through in the morning. So I rearranged and now there’s just this little chest between them. A stranger actually offered to give this chest to me after the fire, so it’s a sweet reminder every day of the kindness of strangers.

Across from the bed is where I put the new recliners. I spent weeks searching for just the right chairs. I wanted a color that was soothing and would downplay the ugly style of recliners. I love this light blue-ish/aqua-ish color (I don’t think that’s the technical name but I have no idea what they call it).

The artwork behind the chairs was either in our storage or tucked into a closet far from the fire so we were able to save it. I was so glad I didn’t lose everything I’ve collected over the years.

The large shelf between the chairs is one that I build myself. I needed something to serve two purposes. First, I needed storage for all of my YL business supplies and books. And second I wanted to cover where they rebuilt the steps going up to the attic bedroom. The original steps were awkward, but improving them meant cutting into my bedroom ceiling and there would be a part of the steps sticking out into my ceiling.

I knew I could make it work by building something to cover it. I wanted a simple, almost shaker style that was white washed. If you open those top cabinet doors all you’ll see is the part of the stairs from above.

On the fourth wall of the room is where I have all of my essential oils and supplements. I had the small dressers from other parts of the house and I found the middle piece on Craigslist.

I painted the three lower pieces black and added sliding shelves to the middle piece. It was just a shell when I found it, very sturdy but no doors or shelves or anything. So it was perfect to create what I needed.

I bought little metal holders for my oils so they would stay neat and easy to locate. I put them in alphabetical order. In case you think that’s too much work, keep in mind I paid a child to put them in order for me. And when I get new oils I give him money to move them all over to fit it in. Motherhood at its finest right there.

As you can see, I use the lower sliding shelves for my Savvy Minerals makeup and various other products. I built the two side towers for my supplements.

I like having products for my family so we don’t run out when we need them. But I also keep plenty in case someone from my local team needs anything or wants to try something. It’s sooo nice to have them all organized and easy to find!

In case you’re wondering where the dressers are, we don’t keep any of our clothes in the bedroom. And thats good because my YL stuff takes up all the space! I kept the wall where the bed is really simple since the YL storage is a lot of visual and I didn’t want it to feel messy. I like that it’s pretty minimal now.

Thanks for coming on this master bedroom tour with me. I hope you will visit some of the other rooms in the house while you’re here! My kitchen is a favorite!

If you decide you need to start your oil collection lemme know and I’ll help you get some! Or you can just hit THIS LINK, order your Premium Starter Kit and then I will reach out to you and we can become good friends and learn together! I promise to be a source of support as you figure out what works for you.

*This post contains affiliate links, which means I earn a small commission when you order, but it doesn’t affect the cost to you!*

Can you believe it’s almost Christmas 2019?! I’m always a little shocked that it has come so quickly. I realize this makes me sound like an old lady, but if the shoe fits…..buy it!

Every one of these are things I own and love! Some of them I discovered after trying out lots of others and now I can pass along all that trial and error to you! These would all make great gifts, but of course you need some for yourself!

For the Home—
* Lightweight Fleece Blanket. I am not someone who likes a weighted blanket. I understand why people like them, but it’s not my thing. I like feeling like I don’t have any weight on me so when I tried this blanket I was so happy. It’s the perfect weight for me to keep warm but not feel weighted down.
* Buckwheat Hull Pillow. I have used one of these for years. It conforms beautifully to your body and is very comfy. I actually love the travel size, not because I travel with it, but because I use it as my “hugging” pillow to lean against when I sleep.
* Instant Pot. I got one after the fire so we could cook without a stove or oven. I fell in love. I now have two and use them both all the time. We make baked potatoes, spaghetti, chili, baked chicken, soups, the possibilities are endless. And its so easy (If I can do it anyone can do it).
* Small Diffuser + StressAway. One diffuser is never enough. This newest little diffuser from Young Living is so cute and affordable! I painted mine and now I love it even more!

* Dishwasher Hard Water Stain Additive. This has made all the difference in how well our dishwasher works. If you get a white film on your dishes you MUST use this in your dishwasher! And while it may seem like a weird gift idea, anyone who has this problem would thank you profusely if you solved this for them!

For the Face—-
* Wonder Cloth. I heard about this from a YouTuber I really like. She recommended this cloth for washing your face and I’d been thinking my regular, cheap cloths were too rough on my face. SO I got them and oh.my.word they are amazing! I can’t imagine not having them now. It’s the softest thing you’ll ever feel on your face!
* Makeup Remover Wipes. These are yummy! I use them every night, but I tear them in half to make them last longer. They are super soft and because they’re from Young Living I don’t have to worry about any toxins in them!
* Lip Gloss. This quickly became my favorite gloss for my lips! It’s pretty, but also healthy for the delicate skin on your lips. I also love it as a lip balm and there are some gorgeous colors!

For the Hair —-
* One-Step Hair Drying Brush. Oh my word y’all….this has been a game changer for me! It makes it so much easier to dry my hair and get some volume. I have wavy hair and it can get really frizzy and this makes it so easy to dry straight. I luuuuuv it.
* Heat Straightening Brush. When I REALLY want straight hair that Makes me feel like a movie star I use this straightener after I blow it dry. It straightens in a SNAP.
* Mirah Hair Oil. This smells amazing and gets those little frizzies to calm down. I only use a few drops and lightly rub it over my hair and voila! Frizz B Gone.
* esalon. Yes, I color my hair. The first time I went to the salon and had it done. It looked great, but, girl, it was expensive! So I decided to try esalon and I have loved it. They have a colorist who works with you and then you get a subscription and it just arrives at your chosen time. When my box arrives I just take care of my roots and don’t have to make an appointment…and I am really happy with the way it looks and the price! I have been using them for over 3 years and if you want to color your hair I highly recommend them!

Personal Stuff —-
* Vionic Ballet Flats. I am shoe challenged. I need extreme arch support and I can’t wear tight shoes, so when I saw that Vionic makes ballet flats I can wear I got so excited. It’s been years since I was able to wear cute shoes and I went a little overboard on the shoe purchases. But after wearing them for a few months I can report that they have never hurt my feet. SCORE!
*Toe Socks. OK I am aware that this look isn’t as sexy as you may want. But let’s be honest…some days you just want to wear your sandals but it’s cold. I also love these when I travel. I want my flip flops to take off easily for security screening but I don’t want to be barefoot. If you like wearing flip flops you need some of these for those days when you don’t care how you look.
* Makeup Organizer. This has become my favorite way to travel with my makeup. It packs a lot of makeup and lies flat in the suitcase and hangs in the bathroom. It’s a great gift!
* Apple Watch Bands. I love to change my band on my watch to go with whatever I’m wearing or doing. So why not have a variety?! I love these $10 bands. They’re pretty and fun and look more expensive. If you have an Apple Watch user a new band or two would make a great gift!
* Roller Bottle Necklace. This is my new jewelry obsession. This little etsy shop makes the prettiest roller bottle necklaces. I get constant compliments on mine!
* Bose Frames. These are the most expensive thing on my list, but I had to add them because I am crazy about mine! I got a pair a few months ago and I love them so much I want to marry them. They work perfectly for exercise (If you’re outside of course, because you don’t need sunglasses inside), driving, anytime you want to discreetly listen to some tunes or a podcast. If you need a bigger gift for that person who has everything these are the thing!

Random Things —-
* Nail Polish Remover Wipes. I like to do my nails but I don’t always have much time, so these are a great, quick way to remove the polish without getting out all of the stuff. You just open and go and I can usually take off all my polish with one wipe.
* Travel Pillow. I tried a lot of travel pillows and this one is hands down my fave. It’s bendy and works for lots of positions. If you travel much this is for you!
* Delay, Don’t Deny. This book is such a great read and it will really help you understand the concept of Intermittent Fasting. If you like audio its great to listen to!
* Small Jars. Y’all, I have been shocked at how much I use these little 3 gram jars! I first bought them to share Young Living makeup and samples with my friends. But then I started using them personally and now I wouldn’t be without a stock of them. I use them for travel, carrying everything from makeup to lotion to toothpaste in them. I still send samples in them and I carry my CBD Muscle Rub in one for my purse. They’re very handy!

Well it’s officially time that summer is passing and we may get to some cooler weather soon. I have to admit that while I am definitely a cold weather loving gal, I will miss this summer. I’ve been in the pool constantly and that has led to some relaxing evenings and nice memories with the boys.

This past weekend we spent a lot of pool time with the kids who came home for Labor Day. Our two married, pregnant daughters came with their families and most of our other kids who live just a few hours away came home and we had a grand time. We were either swimming, eating, playing games or staring at the one year old granddaughter. We will all just sit and watch her like she’s a zoo animal. Her life is about to change dramatically when these two new babies come along! We will have new things to stare at in awe and wonder.

I know I’ve said it before, but its so strange to only have 3 kids at home. Life sure is different than it was when all 9 of them needed help and teaching and guidance. Now we just get to just sit back and watch the older ones make their mistakes and learn from the hard times of life, but we don’t have to get all wrapped up in their issues. And as much as we LOVE their visits we also love having the house back to our new normal. And the new grocery budget isn’t too bad either when you don’t have to feed 11 people, many of them hungry teenagers. With the three boys at home its easier, that’s for sure.

I do miss it though….the days when we were all together. One at a time they walked out the door after the weekend was over and each one took a little piece of my heart with them. It’s strange, but also it’s OK. You get used to it and even thankful for the new heart that’s walking around in other places. God takes care of it all.

Like I mentioned, we played a LOT of games. We love our games. This past weekend we played “Battle of the Sexes,” “Oodles,” and “Balderdash.” I think everyone would vote to play these games again. There was a lot of laughing and a little stiff competition…..we don’t take these thing lightly around here.

Then there was the food. First of all y’all may know I am meal-planning challenged. I don’t like cooking and I especially don’t like missing time with my family because I have to be in the kitchen working. Plus my kids have a variety of food allergies from dairy to gluten to preferring not to eat sugar. food planning and prep always overwhelms me on these weekends with large crowds, so I came up with a meal list for each day and prepped all of the food before everyone arrived. We had 3 nights of dinners so I did tacos, spaghetti (in the instant pot) and Chicken Monterrey. I have two Instant Pots so I could make one with gluten free pasta. We put a green salad with each meal and it was pretty easy! The Chicken Monterrey is a family fave. Since it has dairy in it I made that on the night my dairy free kid wasn’t going to be here.

For lunches I did a charcuterie board. I wasn’t sure how this would go over since I’ve never done anything like it. But it was a big hit. And it was so easy to put together and then do again the next day with what was left. Plus that gave us lots of healthy snacks throughout the weekend.

I got my little Disney bowl when we went to Florida over the summer. It’s from their new home décor line and I loved using the bowls this weekend. They added a little hint of magic.

Of course all my planning wasn’t without its flaws. For one thing, I got two meats for the tray and when I went to put it all together I couldn’t find one of them. I finally located it sitting out on a table under a bunch of chips where it had never been put in the fridge from the day before. Trash. Also I had two kinds of gluten-free crackers and one type of wheat cracker, but because I wanted to be all fancy I got some that I’d never tasted before. As I was setting it all up I tried one of the wheat crackers and they were awful….hard and tasteless. I grabbed a block of cream cheese leftover from the Chicken Monterrey and set it out to go with the hard, dry crackers and pretended like it was planned.

Bam! Life is full of opportunities to adapt.

And now we are washing all of the sheets and prepping for the next full weekend we have coming up. It’s the annual Forge Conference and we love getting to see all of these wonderful friends who come once a year for this (I’m pretty sure there’s still time to register if you want to go!). Our house will be overflowing, but at least I don’t have to feed them for every meal. I just have to make sure we have plenty of healthy breakfast options and late night snacks and they do their own thing for the other meals. That much I can do without being overwhelmed. And we love hosting friends, old and new, so we’re all looking forward to it (plus I get to see a couple of my older kids again!).

I’ve been diffusing my essential oils in all the rooms to make them smell nice and putting little baskets of necessities together for the guests this coming weekend. I like to add peppermint oil, lavender, some water bottles, tissues, breath mints and other small helps for anything they might need.

And who knows, maybe I’ll make another charcuterie board since the one I made last weekend was such a hit and didn’t require cooking. Can you do that for breakfast? I feel like I could make that work!

Have a happy September! Hop over to my Facebook page and let me know what you’ve got on the calendar for the month! Or if you have any easy, healthy breakfast ideas for a crowd!

Last week marked one year since our house fire.  You know how time works….it feels like forever and it feels like it just happened.  2018 was definitely quite a year for us.

From January through May we were out of our house while it was being repaired. Then it was another 5-6 months of trying to put our life back together.  It’s not like we moved back in and it was over.  We actually lived in the house for a month before we had any furniture. It took far too long to get our possessions returned (don’t get me started on the mismanagement of our claim) and we had to wait until we moved back to be able to start replacing what was lost.  If we worked on it before moving in we would have had nowhere to put any of it.

So here we are a year later and I feel like we are mostly settled.  There are still a few repairs we are waiting on and some things we haven’t replaced because we aren’t sure what we need.

It’s been hard. I learned a lot. I thought now that it’s been a year this might be a good time to share some tips for what to do when a friend goes through something like this.  My story is about a house fire, but it would apply to any crisis really.

I’m going to be really, really honest here.  But I first want to say that I am not hurt or mad at anyone.  I just want to share openly because I think it will help you understand how to help others.  Or if you’ve been in this situation I want you to know you’re not the only one.  But none of this comes from a place of bitterness in me….life’s too short for that.  And God fills in all the gaps. 

During the time of the fire recovery, when we were living in an empty house and had none of our possessions, I guess I thought friends would jump in to help.  But they didn’t really.  It’s a very small number of people who actually did something.  We got a few meals brought to us, but not many. A couple of friends sent us money that first week, which was so special because I knew it was a sacrifice for them.  It meant a lot, each person that made an effort.  But the truth is we were mostly left to ourselves and it was hard.

So I wanted to offer some suggestions for what you can do for a friend (or even someone you don’t know) when they are in a similar situation.

1. Don’t say, “Let me know if you need anything.”  Every time someone would say that to me I would think, “Oh sure, I’m really going to call you up for one of the thousand small things I get hit with every day.”  Instead of saying that, just do something!  Drop off something you think they might need or tell them you’re coming over Tuesday afternoon to give them an hour of serving.  Offer to pick up the kids and feed them, make suggestions.  Listen for opportunities for help or just try to think of what you would need and do it.
2. Check in periodically.  Once the initial shock was over people got back to their life (of course!) and we still had months and months of dealing with the aftermath.  Any time someone has a crisis it’s nice to hear from someone a month later, even 6 months later.
3. Send a note.  There’s nothing like a real note in the mail to cheer you up.  I got a couple of notes from friends and they meant so much to me that propped them on my makeshift nightstand in our empty house while we rebuilt. They perked me up while I was trying to find ways to survive.  I don’t mean a text or email, but a real “I got a stamp and mailed this to you” kind of note.
4. Loan things.  In our case we were going to be able to replace most of what we lost eventually, but we needed things to get us by.  Pots and pans, trash can, blankets, even a chair would have been nice!  Ask what they need and offer to loan them some of your things if you can.
5. Stop by.  I would have LOVED for people to come visit us.  We felt alone and I would have loved for friends to take an interest in what was happening by just stopping over and letting us show them the burned house or the cots we were sleeping on or the distance we had to walk back and forth between our house and where we were staying.
6. Take them just a couple of things.  No one person needs to carry the whole load when there’s a great need.  If you just took a few things to your friend and someone else did a couple more it would lift a huge burden.  Here’s a list of things that we really needed and I would have had no idea before it happened to me.

**Paper plates, paper towels, toilet paper, scissors, tape, real forks, spoons and knives (eating with plastic got old really quickly), bowls, small pots and pans, paper to write on, pens, blank note cards, trash bags, pillows, blankets, cups, toothbrushes, toothpaste, towels, wash rags,  kitchen towels, wash cloths, soap and shampoo, games, movies, puzzles, big t-shirts, toys, pajamas, hair brush, snacks, essential oils (duh), dishwashing liquid, laundry detergent, fingernail clippers, books, blankets, and anything that you use daily that might be a blessing for them!

One friend asked me what we needed and I told her that my boys were bored.  I was preoccupied with house construction and we had lost all of their school books.  So she took it upon herself to fill a big Rubbermaid tub with games and school books and bring it over for us to borrow.  It was so helpful!  I pulled out some of the books and came up with makeshift school assignments for them to do while we waited to get our things back. Another gal that I barely know dropped off a bag of clothes for my youngest son at the door.  Just left them there and sent me a message letting me know.  A few friends sent me Young Living oils and other products, which was so, so thoughtful.  And Young Living heard about the fire and sent me a diffuser and a bunch of oils to help. All of those small gestures meant the world to me!

Sometimes you’re not living in the same area as a friend in need. That’s ok….you can still help! Here are some ideas you can do for that long distance friend.

**Send money; I know it seems obvious, but even $20 can help when a crisis hits. It’s hard to be prepared for something like that financially. Order them something on Amazon; one friend sent little toys for my boys from Amazon and it was so nice for them to have something that was just theirs (since we were basically sharing EVERYTHING).  Order food; you can have food delivered by Uber Eats or Favor to someone in another town! Send a gift card for a restaurant or movie theater or grocery store.  Do research; one Facebook friend I don’t even know in person took it upon herself to research how to get Legos clean after a fire. She even reached out to the company and she messaged me all of that information.  It was not only really helpful, but I felt so cared for by her doing that! Pray for them and let them know; that was very meaningful to me when people would let me know they were praying for us.

I think the biggest tip I have is not to assume your friend’s needs are being met by other people.  You don’t have to make it a project, just DO something.  Pray about it and an idea may pop into your mind.  If not, use an idea from this post. You can definitely ASK for a suggestion from your friend.  If they don’t have one, try to think of something you need daily that might be a help to them.

This whole past year was a learning experience for us.  I am thankful for many of the lessons from 2018, but one that I treasure is finding out what someone else needs in a crisis. I’m excited to have the opportunity to bless someone else when they are going through something hard.

If you have more ideas I’d love to hear them! Add them to the comments or hop over to my Facebook page and share!

Be sure to check out some of our rooms after the fire. Our Harry Potter Teen room and the Hipster Bedroom are so fun!

I love to travel! I like getting together with long-distance friends, I like exploring, I LOVE taking short trips with my kids one-on-one. My hubs and I like to getaway alone a couple of times a year too…..it’s one of my favorite things!

In order to take those trips I have to find ways to make it affordable. If it’s more than a 6 hour drive I will usually fly. And because the cheaper flights are on those “base fare plus add ons” type of airlines, I’ve found ways to make the most of my money.

Some of you want the luxuries…first class seating and room service and bellhops to carry your luggage for you. If that’s how you travel then these tips aren’t for you. My best tip for you is to stay away from credit card debt!

So for the rest of you who don’t valet park or rent limos…..you’ll love these ideas.

1. Shop for flights: Once I figure out a time I want to fly I start looking for flights. I will check every day for flights on the cheapest carriers. Spirit, Frontier, JetBlue, AitTran and sometimes Southwest (they are my least favorite). Plus I use an app called Hopper that checks all of the other airlines for me just in case. You’ll discover that the prices change almost daily and by paying attention you can often find great deals. Sign up for newsletters of these airlines and watch for discount codes. The prices tend to be lowest on Tuesday and Wednesday, but that’s not 100% of the time so I check every day. It just takes a couple of minutes and the savings can be worth it!

2. Be flexible: If it’s possible try to be flexible on your travel dates. For example my son and I wanted to take a quick trip at the end of February. It’s just a “Mom & me” thing so the dates weren’t set in stone. By watching prices and being flexible I was able to find round trip flights for a really low fare in early March.

3. Rental cars: The same principles apply to rental cars. Check daily because prices change a LOT. I’ve seen the same car with the same company book for $35/day on a Sunday and the same dates will be $15/day on Wednesday. Also watch out for hidden costs. Read the fine print because the cheaper rental places often charge you extra fees when you arrive. It’s happened to me several times. That’s one reason I will never book a rental car through the airline or use Executive Car Rental. I’ve been fooled by both. I look on the discount sites (like Priceline and Kayak) but I also check the rental car companies directly. Sometimes that’s the best deal! Also if you’re really on a budget consider breaking it up into 2 rentals. On one trip to Florida I needed a car for 6 days. It saved me $200 to rent one car for the first two days then rent another one for the last 4. We just drove to the rental place, returned the car and picked up another one. We went to a great restaurant while we were out and made a date out of it. No big deal at all!

4. Hotels or Air BnB? Honestly it’s a toss up. Air BnB isn’t the great deal it used to be. People have started charging a lot for their houses and often a hotel is cheaper. We like to find an Air BnB if possible, but I’d say it’s only about half the time that works out better for us. For hotels, I go to my search engine and put in something like, “hotels in Wichita, KS”. If you scroll down a little on the results page you will see the map with all those hotels on it. I plug in the dates and start looking around on the map. That helps me see all of the prices and locations in one spot. Hotel prices don’t change as much as flights and rental cars do so I will often check hotels first before I start searching for flights so I can put together the best overall deal.

5. Get extra leg room. Those really deep discounted flights are bare bone y’all, like the seats are uncomfortable and they don’t give you drinks and the trays where you can set your things are about 3”x 5”. It’s not comfy at all! So I will try, if I can, to pay for a seat upgrade. The legroom on the regular seats means you’ll be smashed up against the seat in front of you and no matter how skinny you are you’ll be squeezed into that seat. So for a little extra $ you can be slightly more comfortable and it’s still cheaper than other flights.

And be sure to take a travel pillow!

6. Consider carefully how much luggage you need. The discounted airlines charge extra for any luggage, even a carryon. You can take one “personal item” that’s usually around 18” x 14” x 8” (check your airline for the exact restrictions). That’s SMALL! We will often share a bag or work together to pack as light as we can. Keep in mind that checking a bag means you have to stand in a long line at the ticket counter and a carryon (which is smaller) saves time, but the size is restricting. So consider how much you’ll need to take with you when choosing. Also consider investing in a bag that fits the personal item size for the airline you think you’ll fly with the most. Having the biggest personal size possible has helped me not need to pay for an extra bag for short trips.

7. Learn to pack light. Reduce everything as much as you can. I put my essential oils into tiny bottles, my toothpaste and lotions into small jars and even my deodorant I put into a small plastic container. You’d be surprised how much you can reduce when you put your mind to it! Plus the other consideration is you’ll need a bigger rental car if everyone in your group has a whole suitcase and personal bag.

8. Making it though security: Security lines can be a PAIN. They are long, people are grumpy and often the TSA agents are sick of all of the fussing and they get fussy too. My tip is to be positive and go with the flow. Smile and say thank you to the TSA agents even if they’re being rude. You never really know what they are going to make you remove from your bags, so be ready for anything. Sometimes they make you take all of your food out, sometimes they make you take the liquids out, sometimes they don’t. Shoes off, electronics, belts, the rules seem to change on this every time I travel. So my plan is to be prepared for all of it and just do what they tell me when I get there. I wear shoes that are easy to take off and put back on.

Also, even though my discount airline restricts how much luggage I can carry on, the TSA doesn’t care about that so I will often carry a separate bag (like a foldable tote bag) with my food, liquids and electronics to make those easy to access for security and then consolidate all of it after I get to the gate.

9. What to take: Since I usually fly about once a month, I’ve invested in some products that make it more enjoyable. Here’s a list of some of my faves:

• external battery – I cant stress enough how much this helps. I use it every time I travel, I often sit next to a stranger who needs a charge and I’ll let other people use it, it’s great! And don’t forget to take an extra cord!

• noise canceling headphones – oh my word, this was the best investment I ever made. There was a sticker shock at first, but they are so comfy, easy and make the trip so much better I can’t imagine not having them now. I just put them on and listen to my books or watch a movie with no one bothering me.

• personal fan – you never know when you’re going to get hot and that can lead to misery. So I always have my personal fan that will both hang around my neck and sit on a table. I can wear it to keep me cool on the plane or set it beside me in a hotel room.

• extra AA/AAA batteries – of course you can buy these most places, but if you’re on a plane and your headphone battery dies or sleeping at night and your personal fan runs out of batteries you’ll wish you had them with you! I always have enough for 2 changes just in case.

• packing cubes – these little zip pouches have changed my travel life! I can get three days worth of clothes in a smaller space, easily find my cords and snacks and makeup, it reduces the size and makes finding what I need so much easier!

• extension cord with USB – You never know where an outlet will be in a hotel so I travel with this cord. Plus it gives me a place to charge everything overnight, which can be a problem in a hotel with no accessible outlets.

• grid organizer – y’all this has been so great! It holds everything I need to have out on a plane so it’s not all in various pockets or worse….in my suitcase in the overhead compartment! I added a spring hook and I can either clip it or hang it in front of my on any type of plane. I think it would be great for car travel too….to keep those little necessities right at your fingertips. Or give one to each kid with their own special items in it.

All in all it’s easy and comfy to travel affordably! Yes, those cheap airlines have their down sides…they don’t even give you water! You have to pay for EVERYTHING including a carryon. Bare bones means bare bones. But when you think about getting your flight for about 1/3 the cost of the next cheapest airline it’s worth the extra effort! And cheaper hotels may not have concierge service, but they can be comfortable and convenient and the price makes it easy to travel often. I always check the reviews!

Of course I always travel with my Young Living oils and supplements, toothpaste, moisturizer, etc. That’s one thing I can’t just buy when I get there, so I pack it all in!  I put the oils in teeny bottles, I pack the supplements in my favorite pill holder (I even use this at home for everyday) and I love my zipper top packing envelopes to keep it all together. And this makeup bag lets you pack everything flat.

To follow along with me on my travels be sure you’re following me on Instagram!