Life Update February 2020

Blogging has clearly not been at the top of my priority list but I thought it would be fun to do a life update.

Currently Listening

Empowered Wife Podcast – One of my favorite books, The Empowered Wife, now has a podcast! For those of you who are too busy to read the book this is a great way to glean some information to improve your marriage! It’s all about taking responsibility for your happiness and bringing about change in your marriage without your husband’s conscious effort.

Do It Scared Podcast – Love this podcast, and episode 93 really stood out to me when John O’Leary talks about his Dad finding reasons to be thankful for having Parkinson’s disease. Talk about overcoming adversity! Wow, I can’t imagine. I also really enjoyed 91, I find Ariana Berlin’s resilience and positive “I can do this” attitude super inspiring.

Currently Watching

I found these videos to be fun!

Do It On a Dime –

Mrs. Midwest –

Minimal Mom –

What’s Happening in the Kitchen

I’ve been getting adventurous with low carb meals, to help keep the pregnancy weight gain at a healthy pace.

Goat cheese , caramelized onion and tomato – I use this recipe minus the tart part.
Ricotta with honey, walnuts and berries – Warm up the ricotta in the microwave for 30 seconds and add toppings.
Ricotta with chocolate chips, stevia, and a little heavy cream – Same as the above recipe just different toppings.
Paleo Dijon Chicken – This recipe has so many ingredients but it’s so worth the extra work/ expense.
Beef Curry – I use this recipe except lately I don’t eat the rice and I use cauliflower and zucchini instead of potato.
King’s Cake – We had an epiphany party and I was inspired by this video. https://youtu.be/KvicY8Abqz8

Currently Reading

Connoisseur Kids – One of my favorite authors, Jennifer L. Scott, wrote this. It’s written in an easy format to teach your kids manners, etiquette and just ways to live well. There are even cute rhymes about posture and saying thank you, etc.

The Kindness Method – I found this book at my local library. I’m really enjoying doing all the maps and self-awareness work. I am finding my self-talk is improving and I’m treating myself more like I’d treat my best friend. (We can all be overly harsh on ourselves!)

Current Decor

I love decorating for Valentine’s day and finding creative ways to use what I have to come up with some kind of theme! Here’s what I did this year:

Current Projects

Our new baby will be in our room for probably the first year so we moved our dresser into the closet and put a cube organizer on top and I’m trying to create a system similar to this one, with Dollar Tree containers.

Currently Dreaming

I’m dreaming of have a beautiful flower garden around the perimeter of my house, a vegetable patch, a duck pond, a few goats and chickens. I also would love to start a monthly group for women to share their successes and struggles in their marriage in a safe place in an environment that supports life long marriages. Basically help women fill themselves up, live lives of extraordinary joy and gratitude, and in turn refresh their marriages and families.

Pregnancy Update

I am feeling so much better, praise the Lord! I still have days where I am hormonal, irritable, exhausted, etc but I have been feeling so much better. I am focusing on increasing my energy by doing walking workouts and fueling my body properly and getting adequate rest. Having a set wake up time has helped improve my sleep quality although there are still sleepless nights but alas I can only do the best I can, amen?

Current Joys

After Christmas, the rest of Winter can be a bit depressing for me. These are things that are brightening up my days:

Sunny days – If I wake up and see the sun and blue skies I am so grateful.

Lightbox – Got a lightbox on amazon. I use it at least 30 minutes a day, usually when I’m reading, praying, or applying makeup. I really notice a difference in my energy levels.

https://www.amazon.com/Miroco-Function-Rotatable-Adjustable-Brightness/dp/B081MT6Y5B/ref=sr_1_32?keywords=light+box&qid=1581450959&sr=8-32

Thredup – I just bought some Spring maternity clothes from them. I love this company because they responsibly recycle their clothing and you get some money when you send them your clothes, not a whole lot but my last order I applied $10 and I was able to get 20 percent off as well and the close are of course discounted because they are consigned. A great way to get high quality clothing at a great price and know that you aren’t contributing to more stuff going into landfills, or at least slowing it down.

Nesting – I love to be a busy bee when I’m in my second and third trimesters and do organizing projects, de-cluttering and decorating. It brings me great joy to see those small wins. I made this with the wooden tray from a Melissa and Doug puzzle, to display my most used necklaces:

Plant Nanny App -I’m trying to drink 14 8 ounce glasses of water a day and this app helps motivate me to keep track. You water a little plant , it’s super cute!

Current Wishlist

Mini vacuum from amazon – With kids there are always crumbs everywhere. We grind coffee everyday so that ends up all over the counter too!

Cook Once, Eat All Week

This one is on my library hold list! Can’t wait to get my hands on it. I love the idea of only cooking once. Cooking can be fun but these days it’s more about efficiency.