I have been vegan for nearly 5 months. I can’t explain how much better my mind and body feels. Not to mention, so many health problems I was experiencing have completed stopped. As I become more experienced in my vegan recipes, I’m slowly trying to decrease my amount of soy meat replacements and instead use vegetable ingredients when necessary. Rather than using one of the soy chicken replacements, I decided to use broccoli and spinach for this alfredo recipe. Not only was it delicious, but it was very healthy and filling. Next time I’d love to try it with mushrooms. I’m not a professional che ..read more

If I have learned one thing from my battle with anxiety and depression, it’s that clutter severely contributes to my depressive episodes. My spirit really is at rest when I have a tidy home. I’ve slowly been making steps to declutter and organize my whole house. The less I own, the less I have to organize and clean. Join in as I declutter and organize my home. I’m very transparent, so follow my social media for all of the before and after pictures! So far I have tackled the girl’s playroom. Here is a before and after look of our progress. They have been great at helping to keep the room clean ..read more

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post in which I was compensated financially to publish Let’s take some time to discuss something that plays a huge role in almost all our lives: childcare. Did you know that more than 20% of American families are going into debt to pay for childcare and preschool? I’m going to be honest; we are one of those families.  Last year was one of the hardest years of our marriage. In March of 2019, we took a hard look at our finances and assessed if my husband’s temporary job was worth the additional costs we were accruing. We had to pay for before ..read more

If you’re anything like me, you struggle with breakfast for the little ones. I’m not a big breakfast person, so that doesn’t make it any easier. I’d much rather wait and eat lunch, but we know that’s not what’s best for our children or ourselves. A fun recipe that I like to occasionally treat the girls with is our peanut butter banana breakfast shake. It’s super easy and you most likely have all of the ingredients in your cabinets! I broke up two bananas and threw them in the freezer the night before. There isn’t anything wrong with using fresh bananas. This step just eliminates the need for e ..read more

Prior to all of my recent research, I really thought minimalists were the people who bought tiny homes.  They were the ones who had the white walls without a single picture hanging.  You know, all of the straight lines. No character!  Right? I was so wrong. I initially created this challenge in 2018. Despite being ridiculously busy then, I able to complete half of it. I’ve made some serious lifestyle changes since then. I stopped my small businesses as a photographer and crafter. Also, I’m no longer working at the hospital. I was really tired of the 12-14 hour shifts. My kids we ..read more

Do you ever feel like you’re just operating on autopilot? You just wake up and perform the same routine? Is that truly living? I desperately want more out of life and I have made so many changes to live life to the fullest. Check out these five things I’m doing to live more intentionally. Less Screen Time This is definitely a hard one for all of us. Our entire lives are based around technology. Specifically, I had two businesses that required me to constantly be attached to my phone. If I miss out on a client’s inquiry that meant I could potentially miss out on an order and income for our fam ..read more

I’ve almost always been one of those people who didn’t believe the new year hype. I associated the start of another year with my mom making us clean the house and vowed to not be one of those people. The past two years in particular, I remember not caring what condition the house was in entering the new year. I was actually annoyed with all of the social media posts related to all the changes people wanted to make in the new year. “Blah, blah, blah.” Now, I realize how toxic these thoughts were. It’s as though I was setting myself up for failure for the upcoming year. And, boy, did I struggle ..read more

Can you believe it’s December already?! This year has seriously flown by. I’m so excited for the holiday season. It’s truly my favorite time of year. We didn’t have many traditions growing up, so it was always important for me to establish some with my children. One common tradition that many families share is Elf on the Shelf. I’m not going to lie, Tappy Ats (my girl’s Elf) has been wonderful at keeping the girls on their best behavior. It’s a win-win for us all! With that being said, here are 24 Elf on the Shelf ideas! Some of these are from some of my awesome mommy blog friends. Make sure t ..read more

We have had lots of changes this year. Some good and some bad. One great change is my new job. I no longer work long 12+ hour shifts in the hospital. I took a new role as a chemotherapy infusion nurse. This allows me to have amazing hours, including no holidays or weekends. With that being said, we are excited to make the most of our time together. We put together a family holiday bucket list. Does your family do something similar? What’s the one thing you want to do with your family? Do you have any special traditions ..read more

The holidays are such a special time for our family. It’s when I am at my absolute happiest. So many memories are centered around the kitchen, including this hot chocolate recipe. While I’m not a girl that is big on sweets, my children and my husband love them. So check out this quick and simple Crock-Pot Hot Chocolate recipe. We opted to use almond milk since we are all a bit diary sensitive. All ingredients were under $10 and from Lidl! Ingredients 6 Cups Vanilla Almond Milk 1 – 14 oz can Sweetened Condensed Milk 1 1/2 cups Heavy Whipping Cream 1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract 2 Cups Milk Chocola ..read more