Gift Wrapping tips for terrible wrappers. A pleated and ribbon wrapped gift

I don’t like to admit it but I have never been very good at wrapping gifts. Most of the time, you could count yourself lucky if your gift was wrapped in one continuous piece of paper rather then a patchwork collection because I sized things wrong. Yes, I was that terrible at it. If I did size things properly then the corners always ended up bunched and bulky looking. Enough was enough! This year I sat down and studied some gift wrapping tips with the intent of attempting to learn how to gift wrap properly. Was I successful?  To some degree! It turns out that giftRead More →

the benefits of starting a gratitude journal or jar

We all know the benefits that come from keeping a journal or following a planner when it comes to achieving goals. Writing things down truly has the power to influence our likelihood when it comes to getting things done! Part of it is the satisfaction that we get when we mark things off as completed and part of it is just the way our brains work. By writing things down we are telling ourselves that this is important and we want to remember it! This keeps our goals at the forefront of our minds throughout the day. But what if we want to remember more thenRead More →

Getting into the Christmas Spirit with Netflix

I love Christmas! I love the decorations, the crafts and the act of giving gifts. Most importantly, however, I love seeing my kids as they get more and more excited about the approaching holiday. Every family has their own traditions and yearly adventures when it comes to Christmas. For my family, a large part of the season revolves around watching Christmas movies. We love getting into the Christmas Spirit by watching the various tales, both new and old. It’s a great excuse for cozy blankets, hot chocolate and family bonding time. Since our family unplugged from cable a few years ago we have been dependantRead More →

Keto holiday survival guide.

My husband and I started eating Keto over a year ago near the tail end of summer. This meant that we were a few months into our Keto journey by the time Thanksgiving and Christmas rolled around, but we were still in the learning process. Surviving get-togethers where the food was decidedly non-keto for the most part was a challenge and lessons were definitely learned along the way! Hopefully, with the help of this Keto holiday survival guide, you won’t have nearly the stress about it that we did! Holiday get-togethers are supposed to be fun and something to look forward too! Certainly, no one needsRead More →

diy christmas ornament attaching the garland

I was so excited when I heard about this exchange! The idea of not only gifting another blogger with a fun Christmas ornament but also getting the chance to create my own ornament for the season was just too much fun to pass up! Creating Christmas ornaments was always one of my favorite seasonal activities back in school and it doesn’t seem like that’s changed much as I have gotten older! If you are looking for some seasonal inspiration either for handmade gifts or decorations for your own tree then this is certainly the right spot! 50 bloggers took part in this year’s exchange so that’s 50 postsRead More →

DIY chiristmas Ornament

Most of us have probably made ornaments before! There’s a pretty good chance that your parents still have some of them floating around from your school days. You know the ones – popsicle stick Christmas Trees and pom-pom snowmen? I don’t know about you but I always loved making those in art class! Of course, now that I’m an adult and can get my hands on some really nice materials I have found that I can really up my DIY Christmas Ornament game. You can only imagine how excited I was when I found out about the Bloggers Ornament Exchange which happens every year. MakeRead More →

home improvment goals for 2019, sunset on the backyard

The end of the year is closing in and I have decided to set some home improvement goals for 2019! It’s pretty crazy how fast 2018 went by! We managed to get a lot done this year as a family. Both in our personal lives and in our home. In 2018 we managed to stick with our keto eating plan, explored yoga and strength training and fell in love with running. We also replaced our terrible carpets with new laminate flooring and repainted several rooms in the house. I even got around to finally creating that family photo wall I have been thinking about forRead More →

gifts for runners a cristmas gift guide

I don’t know about you but I always find it easier to shop for people with well-defined hobbies. Friends and family who are into art get art supplies. Those who enjoy spending time in the kitchen get cooking gadgets. Shopping for people without hobbies are my most challenging Christmas hunts! However, I also have trouble if the hobby is unfamiliar to me. I have no clue what to get someone who is interested in fishing for instance. Other than a gift card and while I love gift cards – sometimes you want something more personal. If you have a runner in your inner circle then hopefullyRead More →

dealing with holiday stress

There is no getting around the fact that this is a crazy time of year. While summer can be hectic with the kids home from school there is nothing quite like the endless parade of holiday’s that show up when they go back. Between Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years and Valentine’s Day it can start to feel like the world just got a little bit too busy a little bit too quickly. Dealing with holiday stress can be a challenge for all of us! Don’t get me wrong – I love the holidays! I love the cheerful fun decorations, the spirit surrounding them and theRead More →

dealing with unexpected costs as a family on a budget

Maybe it’s just us, but it seems like this time of year is a magnet for bad luck. The dryer died last year and this year a sensor in the truck decided to go out. Some years are better than others but it never fails. If something is going to break and need replacing. It’s going to happen close to Christmas or a birthday or some other event that’s already stretching our budget a bit thin. Dealing with unexpected costs is just a hard bit of truth when it comes to being an adult. Would have been nice if someone had warned us about thisRead More →