For those homeschooling this year or my awesome teacher friends, I have LOVED using the printables from Productive Homeschooling. I have printed out blank pages for kids to draw things or to write out history sentences and things like that. You don't need a TON of worksheets to be successful at homeschooling, but sometimes it's nice to have something to add to your child's school portfolio! #soprofessional Click THIS LINK and get $25 off membership (it's SOOO worth it) and I benefit as well! #winwin PLEASE share with anyone you know that might need this resource this year! ... read more
How to Start a Bullet Journal
I'm a stationery junkie, and every chance I get, I buy pens and notebooks. I can't help myself, but I've always been drawn to art supplies. I wouldn't say I'm an artist - more of a doodler. So a year ago, when I accidentally stumbled upon the concept of bullet journaling, and all of the beautiful pages they contain, I was intrigued. So what is a bullet journal? First off, if you like to know exactly what a bullet journal is, I'd recommend watching THIS video. The creator of the bullet journal system, Ryder Carroll, not only shows you how to utilize it, but he also explains what it is. If you'd prefer to hear my explanation, then keep reading. The way I'd explain it is that it's a planner, diary, sketchbook, and record keeper - all in one! Different people use it for different ... read more
How to Use the Envelope System
Not too long ago, when my husband and I started to get our financial act together, we realized we were spending a ridiculous amount of money on eating out. Wanna know how ridiculous? This is embarrassing... we were spending $400 a month on restaurants! We were having a budgeting crisis in the form of not doing it at all. It was time to come up with a system. To solve our problem, we learned a trick taught by one of the most famous financial gurus in America, Mr. Dave Ramsey! This little trick is simple. It doesn't involve you going out and getting a second job or even selling some of your favorite toys. All you have to do is change your money-spending behavior by paying only in cash. Here is my step-by-step process to explain how to adopt this brilliantly elementary ... read more
How We Scored a Vacation for $99
Other than my honeymoon, I've never gone on a big, fancy trip with my hubby. I love to travel and experience new things, especially with my BFF. But we've just never been able to. Well, four years ago, we were lucky to finally take a family trip together. This post will explain how we scored a vacation for $99, but what I really want to stress is to work hard and research in order to save money on your next family vacation. Now before I get into how we were able to go on such a cheap trip, I need to write a little disclaimer. I am not telling you my story to encourage you to go out and do this. In fact, I would strongly encourage you NOT to. However, if you decide to do something crazy like this, and you are up for the challenge, then by all means! I will never do this ... read more
January 2017 Income Report
It is already February, people! Can you believe it? Man, January went by quick. I have been doing a lot of work on the blog and also behind the scenes, but this income report may be a bit of a let down. Trust me, if it's disappointing to you, it's about 100 times more so for me. If you are curious how I did in my first four months of blogging, you can check out my first income report. It seems there are two major schools of thought concerning blogging as a way to earn an income. One is that people don't really think blogging can bring in any kind of money, and that's it's just an outlet for people who like to write. Two, people believe you might be able to make some money (but probably not much), but they think it must be pretty easy because so many people do it. They don't really ... read more
Valentine’s Day Idea Round-Up
I love Valentine's Day! Not because it's just another opportunity to get a gift from my sweetie, but because of all the cutesy decorations, school parties, and fun heart-shaped treats! It's a chance for me to really love on my babies - more than normal! I have been collecting ideas on my pinterest board for YEARS now, and I'm getting it all organized here to help those of you who need a little inspiration this February 14th! Candy Valentine Ideas Don't just resort to buying boxed valentines. Instead, consider making some of your own for your kids, or even just for you to pass out to your friends, family, and/or coworkers! Non-Candy Valentine Ideas With all the goodies that kids get for Valentine's Day, it's kind of nice when they get little trinkets ... read more
Project Life: Getting Started
For a few years now, I've been thinking about doing Project Life. I am SO behind in my albums that it's a little embarrassing to admit. Let's just say, I haven't scrapbooked much since I've had kids, and my oldest is seven. *hangs head in shame* I always talked myself out of Project Life, because I love what I call "traditional" scrapbooking - sticking everything down to the page, journaling by hand, and embellishing to the nines. I didn't want someone dictating my layouts, and I certainly didn't want my photos to just slip into an album! What if a child got ahold of the album and all the photos spilled out? I would probably die... However, the idea of Project Life really interested me because I would be able to get a lot more pages scrapbooked more quickly than how I was ... read more
Chromebook for Bloggers
When I was thinking about how I am going to achieve my blogging goals for 2017, I knew I'd need to set myself up for success. One easy way to do that was to make sure I had all the right ingredients for optimum workflow. I needed a laptop for three basic reasons: (1) to have a way to easily write anywhere and anytime, (2) one location for all my photos and photo editing, and (3) to be able to get my work done quickly. Based on a quick internet search, the chromebook looked like a viable option. A 2006 Macbook (that's right) is the most recent laptop I've owned. Not a Macbook Pro, just a plain ole ten-year-old Macbook. This laptop was still operating pretty well, but in the past couple months, a few of the keys suddenly stopped working. I actually had to plug in a keyboard just to ... read more
My First Income Report {Sept.-Dec. 2016}
I have owned this blog since October 2015. It's kind of crazy that it's already been over a year. Wow... But the thing is, I didn't really start blogging until September of 2016. See, I had a baby in September of 2015, and I started thinking about ways to stay home with my baby - my third child. We had always wanted to homeschool our kiddos, although we don't currently, so I needed an option to earn an income from home. After a lot of online research, blogging seemed to be a perfect fit for my family's needs. Fast forward to today. It has been four months since I started the process of monetizing this blog, and boy are there a million things to know AND do. Anyone who does this full-time or even part-time, knows the time commitment. However, I've read that if I'm passionate ... read more
3 Tips to Make Your Diet Doable {Guest Blogger: Mercy Rich}
Today, I'm so excited to welcome my first ever guest blogger! Last Monday, I posted my New Year's resolutions, and I explained my goals for 2017. Well, my friend Mercy has some great insight into the areas of diet and weight loss - her perspective is one you don't normally hear from the world of health and fitness. If you are struggling to take any amount of weight off, consider a new approach. So with that, please enjoy... ‘Tis the season for New Year’s Resolutions, right? Have you already abandoned yours? We are more than a couple weeks into the new year, after all. Lots of people make New Year’s Resolutions that revolve around losing weight. A few years ago, I lost 40 pounds over the course of about four months. I kept it off for a while, but then had three more babies. What ... read more