A Walk With The Walkers

I am not a health nut. Eating healthy does not come naturally for me. Growing up, I would unwrap a piece of American Cheese and peel the edge off of a slice of bologna for a snack. Fast forward 30 years, and I'm downing gallons of ice cream, because we were planning on starting this program on August 1st and I was freaking out a little that I was cutting ice cream out of my life I didn't want the temptation in the house. But, we have needed to eat healthier in our family for a while. Heart disease runs in both of our families, and I don't want to have a cabinet full of meds when I'm older. That means, we need to be proactive now. We want to enjoy our kids at every stage of their lives, and that means we need to make wise choices now. So, I'm happy to say that we just completed our first week of Whole 30. If you're not familiar with what Whole 30 is, it is committing to eat whole foods for 30 days. That means eating non-processed and no sugar added foods, no dai...

" From the pictures you send it looks like you have a great time together." That sweet sentence was typed by my grandma. My grandma who usually only sends forwards, and has maybe composed 3 total emails to me. She truly meant what she said, but I felt instant conviction the moment I read it. Whether it's sending pictures to grandparents, or posting on some form of social media, wouldn't you agree that we all would rather paint this perfect picture of our lives. And, as one of my friends used to say, we have to get all the good pictures, so we can look back when our kiddos are older and show them what a fun childhood they had! But I'm going to be real with you friends. This season of life has been tough. Miss P is a rule follower and such a good kiddo, but she's 2. 2-year olds push boundaries. 2-year olds love to eat something one day and are shocked that you would even offer it the next. 2-year olds create the same messes 5 times a day, and if you wan...

Miss P says this phrase often, "I have an idea!" I'm assuming I must say it pretty often myself. So, when we went to Barnes & Noble (I miss brick and mortar bookstores SO much!) to pick up a book I wanted to start reading ASAP, and visited the children's book section, of course the book placed on the front table titled, What do You do With an Idea? , jumped right out at me . I'm a very price conscience shopper, if you've read my other blog posts, you know why, so when I flipped the book over and saw that the retail price was $16.95, I put it right back down. Well Miss P loves books, so we found ourselves sitting and reading in another section, and there the book was again, so we read it. Friends. Let me just tell you, this is the most inspirational children's story I have ever read. It starts out that one day, this child has an idea. It talks about how ideas are sometimes scary and confusing and bothersome, and then when you decide to share your id...

10 Ways To Save Money & Reduce Spending Disclaimer: Some of you are going to strongly dislike some of these ideas. You are going to think I'm ridiculous. But then the part of you that really wants financial freedom will know that I'm right. Now is the time to make these sacrifices. If you truly want to get out of debt, you have to stop spending money on nonsense. And here's the super cool part, once you become debt free, you can slowly add the nonsense that you enjoy back into your budget. Cutting things out of your life does not have to be a forever thing in this case. Who knows though, once you remove some of these things for a period of time, you might not miss them as much as you think you will. 1. Don't Pay For Cable TV (Sorry cousins!) I wasn't going to put that one first, because I know some of you will completely stop reading now. But let's be honest, cable TV IS NOT A NECESSITY . For you football fans, now is the perfect time to...

Recently, Facebook reminded me that it had been 6 years since I marched into Bank of America to make the final payment on our credit card and became consumer debt free. 6 YEARS!!! I remember having such a feeling of accomplishment. I could have mailed in the payment, done it over the phone, or online, but what fun would that have been!?! For that life changing moment, I HAD to do it in person. The teller was not nearly as excited as I was, but in a society where consumerism is king, and having mounds of debt is considered the norm, who can really blame her. If you would have asked me 7 years ago where I was financially, I probably couldn't or wouldn't have given you a straight answer. I didn't grow up in a home where finances were discussed regularly. I do remember my parents and grandparents having tons of credit cards, so when I turned 18, I started my collection. The only good thing that came of this, was that I had enough established credit to qualify for an ARM when ...

We did it! Our now 2 year old no longer uses her pacifier for sleeping. I was SO scared of how awful the nap-times and nights would be without that little soother, but let me just tell you, it went much better than I expected! In case you're curious as to what worked for us, here is a little breakdown of what we did. I should mention, that since Miss P was about 3 months old, we only used a pacifier in the car when the crying WOULD. NOT. STOP., when we were on stroller rides, and for sleeping times. Right when she would wake up, we would put her pacifier back in her crib. I wanted to be in this habit from the beginning. It was a personal thing. She is super verbal, so by the time she was 20ish months, as she was getting ready to rest, she would say, "I need paci, and flat pet, and blanket." Because of this routine, we were even more nervous to sever the ties with her paci, but let me tell you, it was none too soon! At her 2-year old well check visit, her doctor asked us...

A couple of weeks ago, an editor with Parents.com contacted me, and asked if she could use our golf themed pregnancy announcement for her article. How cool is that!?! It's definitely one of the higher honors that a creative person can receive. The article is titled, "11 Winning Sports-Themed Pregnancy Announcements." We are number 6 on the list, and you can check it out for yourself here .