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Money Saving Mom

Money Saving Mom®

Saving Families Money Since 2007

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Shared Jan 6, 2017 comment

My $3.86 Kroger Shopping Trip — Markdowns!

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My $3.86 Kroger Shopping Trip — Markdowns!

Published: by on   |  This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

I ran into Kroger last night after an appointment and found some great markdowns! I was especially excited about the Greek yogurt for just $0.10 each!!! I don’t think I’ve ever found it marked down so much!!

Here’s what I got:

  • 7 Yoplait Whips (one is not shown because Kaitlynn asked if she could eat it!) — $0.29 each
  • 1 Greek yogurt — $0.19
  • 4 Greek yogurts — $0.10 each
  • 2 other specialty yogurts — $0.49 each

Total with tax: $3.86

You can watch my quick video here where I talk more about what I got and how I find markdowns. (Have you subscribed to my YouTube channel yet? I’ve been posting fun, inspirational, and motivational videos every day and would love to have you join our little community on YouTube!)

What deals have YOU gotten recently? Tell us in the comments.

Shared Jan 5, 2017 comment

My #1 Tip for Finding Frugal Friends

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My #1 Tip for Finding Frugal Friends

Published: by on   |  This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

It can be discouraging to be surrounded by people who are not budget conscious. You can feel weird, crazy, and little “on the outside.”

I well remember the days when Jesse was in law school and it seemed like we couldn’t go to so many different social outings because we didn’t have any money to spend. It was discouraging — and sometimes embarrassing!

We wanted to be able to make friends and hang out with people, but it felt like every invite was to some place that cost money. And in those days, we literally had to use every single dollar to put food on the table and to pay our bills.

The balance in our entertainment category of our budget was a big fat zero almost all of the time!

Occasionally, we’d save up all our extra pennies, nickels, dimes, and would cash in the few extra dollars we’d saved over six months for a $0.50 movie from Family Video + a few items off of the dollar menu! Seriously, that was about the extent of our very rare splurging in those early years of marriage.

Over time, I learned to get really creative and to think outside the box. For instance, when Jesse was in law school and some of his friends were having a party, the host asked if everyone could pay $4 each to cover the costs of the party.

We didn’t have $8 extra in our budget for both of us to attend, so I emailed the host to ask if I could bring snacks and drinks (that I’d gotten for free or almost-free with coupons using money from our grocery budget) instead. She was so gracious to say “yes” to my offer — and we had a fantastic time at the party!

You are Influenced By What You Surround Yourself With

You often are very influenced by the people you surround yourself with. If everyone you associate with is spending money pretty extravagantly and telling you that you “deserve” this, that, and the other — even if you can’t afford it — it’s going to be hard to stick with your resolve to live frugally.

On the other hand, if many of your friends are living frugally and simply, if they are content and totally “get” you when talk about buying something secondhand or saving up to pay cash for things, it will be a lot easier to keep on your slow and steady journey toward debt-freedom or achieving your other financial goals.

This is why I can’t encourage you enough to make the effort to surround yourself with friends who don’t think you’re crazy for being so frugal. And not just friends who don’t think you’re crazy, but friends who are just as frugal — or more frugal! — than you are!

The Benefits of Having Frugal Friends

It’s much more fun when you don’t go it alone. Here’s how having frugal friends will benefit your life:

1. You’ll Be Able to Swap Skills

Your frugal friends will more than likely be glad to barter skills and talents. It saves everyone money — and it saves you all a lot of frustration, too.

Your frugal friends might also be interested in having regular swap parties where you swap clothes or toys your kids no longer need or even items you got for free with coupons.

2. You’ll Learn New Skills and Money-Saving Tactics

Your frugal friends will teach you new money-saving skills and techniques you would have never thought of or tried on your own. Pretty much every frugal idea I know of is something I’ve learned from another frugal friend.

In addition, my frugal friends have challenged me to try things I probably wouldn’t have tried on my own — like making homemade soap!

3. You’ll Stay Inspired

Whenever you’re feeling burnt out on sticking with a budget, just call or email one of your frugal friends and she’ll be sure to listen and then remind you of why you’re doing what you’re doing — and that it will be worth it.

4. You’ll Have Fun

It’s a lot more fun to save money when you’re among friends who are also committed to living frugally. Plus, they’ll laugh at your crazy thrift store experiences or used car adventures.

Where To Find Frugal Friends: My #1 Tip

If you want to find frugal friends, go hang out where frugal people would hang out. Here are some ideas of where frugal people hang out:

  • Yard Sales
  • Consignment Sales
  • Your Local Library
  • Thrift Stores
  • Used Book Sales
  • Swap Meets
  • Frugal Websites/Message Boards
  • Local Facebook Yard Sale Groups
  • Freecycle
  • Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University Classes

Start looking around in your area for opportunities, events, and classes that would attract frugal people and then:

Show Up — This is the most important step! Get brave and just show up! If you don’t ever take the first step, no one is likely going to just randomly show up on your doorstep wanting to be your new frugal friend!

Meet People — Talk to people at these events. Ask questions. Find out their stories. See if there is camaraderie. Don’t be discouraged if not everyone you meet becomes your fast friend. But keep putting yourself out there and showing up and asking questions and building relationships.

Volunteer — One of the best ways to really develop deeper relationships is to volunteer your time. Many consignment sales offer the opportunity to help at the sale in exchange for first dibs on the items in the sale or extra discounts. This would be a great way to get to know people better and maybe find a new frugal friend or two!

Teach a Class — Do you have a frugal skill such as cutting your grocery bill with coupons? Consider offering to teach a class at your local library or community center. This one-time class might turn into some lifelong friendships!

Invite People to Join a Frugal Friends Club — Once you start to discover some frugal people in your area, you could invite them to join a frugal friends club. Not only would this be a lot of fun, but it would be a great way to really be inspired by others and to learn new money-saving skills! For more information on starting a frugal friends club, read this post.

You just never know where you’ll find an amazing frugal friend, but if you keep your eyes open, I can almost guarantee that you’ll find some other frugal folks who live in your area!

Where would YOU go to find frugal friends? Tell us your ideas in the comments!

 

Shared Jan 4, 2017 comment

Why Our 3 Kids Share a Bedroom

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Why Our 3 Kids Share a Bedroom

Published: by on   |  This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

A number of months ago, I mentioned online that our three kids share a bedroom. A lot of people were shocked, surprised, or even bothered by our decision to have all three of our kids in the same bedroom. 

I personally was surprised at how many people said the picture made them feel so much better. Many people wrote in and told me that they had no idea that our house wasn’t huge and spacious and perfect. They said that seeing that picture helped them to realize that just because we do have a really spacious kitchen and living area, that doesn’t mean that our entire house is huge and perfect!

Let me be clear: We do have a great rental house — it does have a great kitchen, it has a wonderful backyard, it’s in a really convenient location, and our rent is very low for this area.

Compared to many places we’ve lived, this is a really nice house. But it pales in comparison to our previous house. The floor plan is not set up well for our family, it doesn’t have a basement, it’s not conducive for hosting big groups, and we’ve had leaks and termites and A/C problems and ear wigs and a host of other issues while living here.

We rented this house sight unseen because we were living in Kansas when it was available and there was no way we could make it to TN to check it out with Jesse’s work schedule. Plus, it just didn’t feel like a wise use of time or money to drive or fly out to check out a house before we signed a contract on it.

So we asked some of our TN friends if they’d go look at it for us and make sure they felt it was okay to rent. They graciously agreed to do a walk-through and sent us a video tour of it and said they thought it would be good to rent.

We talked to the landlords at length, did as much research and investigation as we could from afar, and both felt this was the house we should go with. So we signed a two-year lease on it, because that was what the landlords were offering.

It was a little crazy to pull up to the house the day we moved and see the area and neighborhood and house for the very first time knowing that we’d signed a contract to live here for two years!

Many people have suggested that we should have purchase a house here when we moved instead of renting. We only briefly considered that option, but we knew that it wasn’t a good option for us for a few different reasons.

1) Housing prices are MUCH higher here — so there was no way we could afford to pay cash for a house at the time.

2) We didn’t want to mess with having to try to sell our house + find a new house + pack up everything and move our family across the country all at the time same.

3) We didn’t know if we were even going to stay in TN long-term.

So we decided renting was our best option — and it’s been a great option for us, despite the drawbacks of the current home we’re in.

One of the biggest drawbacks is that, due to the limited bedroom space, all three kids are in one bedroom. Some people would say we are terrible parents for living in a house where they all have to share a room and don’t have a lot of their “own space”.

Honestly, even though they are 11, 9, and 7, we see so many blessings and benefits for the three of them sharing a bedroom. Here are 3 of those blessings and benefits:

1. It Helps Them Learn to Get Along With Each Other

I grew up in a family of 9 and I remember my mom always telling me that if we can learn to get along with our siblings, we could probably get along with just about anyone. We like to remind our kids that sharing a bedroom with two other people who are very different than you is a valuable life skill!

You get to learn how to be gracious when other people are “in your space”, you get to learn how to keep your area more clean, you get to learn to work together to keep the room clean, and you learn to share your space well with others. 

(And honestly, most of the time, they really love being together. Last night, they were all in their room talking and laughing together for at least 30-45 minutes before they fell asleep. It’s not always like that and there is plenty of arguing that goes on, too, but I think they actually do really enjoy the closeness that sharing a room provides!)

2. It Teaches Them Contentment

When Jesse and I were first married, we lived in a basement apartment. Our budget was very tight and we did everything we could to stay out of debt. Those sacrifices are — in big part — what has allowed us to be where we are today.

But here’s the truth: Our kids were little when we made a lot of financial and personal sacrifices to get to the place where we are now. They don’t remember those days.

We want our kids to have the same opportunity we had to learn that happiness is not based upon where you live, the car you drive, or the room you have. You can be content no matter what because contentment isn’t based upon your circumstances, it’s a state of your heart.

3. It Helps to Prevent an Entitlement Mentality

We now have a lot more wiggle room in our budget than we had 10 years ago when the kids were little (or not even born yet!) They get to enjoy things we never imagined we’d be able to afford for them — like swim team and figure skating and even an international trip to South Africa. However, we don’t want them to grow up thinking that everything will be handed to them. We want them to experience short-term sacrifices for long-term benefits.

One simple way we’re teaching them this is through having them share a room right now. We don’t want them to grow up thinking that they can just get whatever they want without having to work for it, save for it, and/or make sacrifices for it.

So we’ve chosen to continue to rent a house that has less than ideal sleeping arrangements (along with a long list of other “less than ideal” things) because it is not only teaching us all good lessons, but it’s allowing us to be able to save more aggressively and give more generously.

By the end of this year, our goal is to have saved enough to pay cash for a house here in TN and we would like to buy a house that has enough space for them to each have their own room (especially since they are getting older), but in the mean time, we’re learning contentment in the house that we’re in and are choosing to be grateful for the many things about it that we love — like the wonderful neighbors, a beautiful kitchen, and a great backyard.

Our hope is that these lessons in contentment will be something our kids will carry with them for the rest of their lives — no matter where they live.

Please note: Do what is best for your family and please be careful if you are putting boys and girls in the same room. This is something we have seriously considered and it is the reason we are planning to move in the next year. We know that these types of sleeping arrangements will not work long-term — especially as our children reach pre-teen age.

However, we have strict modesty rules at our house (Such as: Never change in front of another person. Bathrooms are for changing in, not bedrooms. Always knock on a closed door. Always leave the door open when you are in the room playing with another child. Etc.) and our children have always been very respectful of each other’s privacy and respectful of our modesty rules. I think it’s important to have these types of rules and precautions in place no matter what the sleeping arrangements are at your house.

Ultimately, when it comes to sleeping arrangements, you know your own children and what would best best in your own family. As I always say, it’s so important to do what is best for your own family and your own children!


Shared Jan 2, 2017 comment

BIG changes are coming to the blog this year!

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BIG changes are coming to the blog this year!

Published: by on   |  This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

I’ve been thinking about writing this post for weeks. I wanted to wait until I had everything settled in my mind and heart and that my team had given me the a-okay to move forward with this.

Some of you have been worried as I’ve mentioned the “big changes” that I was going to stop blogging.

Well, I’ve got some good news for you: I’m not quitting blogging. On the contrary, I’m actually starting three new blogs this year! 🙂

Yes, I promise I haven’t lost my mind. Let me explain… 🙂

When I started MoneySavingMom.com, I had every intention of having it be a side thing that I did in addition to other blogs and online things. However, I never expected that it would blow up like it did and become our family’s full-time income.

Within two years, I had shut down all of my other online things and blogs (yes, I used to have two other blogs), because MSM was requiring every single bit of time I had to give it.

That worked well for a while. I was in a season of change personally and focusing on just talking about saving money online gave me space to step back and process other beliefs and convictions that I had once held and had blogged about (those of you who read my earlier blogs know what I’m talking about!!).

I needed to be in a quiet season, where I inwardly processed instead of sharing what I was thinking through and pondering with all the folks on the internet. 🙂

But after about two years of that quiet season, I had various things I wanted to write about that weren’t related to saving money. Since MoneySavingMom.com was my only online platform, I shared some of those things here.

Over time, as I had more and more things I wanted to write on, this blog became more of a scattered, random conglomeration of my personal thoughts and passions and interests. And it strayed from the original purpose of helping people save money.

You all have been along for the wild ride. And you’ve been gracious and kind. You’ve rarely complained, but I know that it’s been confusing to some people.

I know many people have wondered: Why is a blog called MoneySavingMom.com talking about things that have nothing to do with saving money? 

I was kind of confused about this, too. 😉

On the one hand, I know I can’t confine myself to just writing about money topics. I would get bored very quickly with that. But on the other hand, it’s important that I define what this blog is about — and that people know what they can expect when they come here.

However, if I re-focus this blog back to its original purpose and only share deals, freebies, and money-saving tips and advice, what on earth am I going to do with all the other topics I’m passionate about and want to write about???

These are the things I’ve been thinking through, pondering, asking people for counsel on, and praying about for many months. Actually, it was most of 2016!

I’d come up with ideas and what I thought would be a solution, but then I’d quickly realize that it just wouldn’t work longterm. So then I’d start over again.

It took many rounds of ideas and much contemplation before I finally landed on clarity. And here’s what that clarity was…

What’s Changing in 2017

1. It’s time to re-focus MoneySavingMom.com back to its original purpose.

Starting today, this blog will only be a place where I’ll be sharing things related to saving money/earning a little side income: great deals, freebies, money-saving tips, free ebooks, frugal living inspiration, money-saving recipes, ways to earn a little side income, grocery shopping trips, frugal family fun, and much more.

I plan to share at least 2-3 posts of my own here each week, plus feature a few guest posts. If you are interested in contributing a guest post, you can read our guidelines here and submit your post here.

The only non-money-saving posts will be my Sunday Peek Into My Life posts. I thought it’d be fun to include those to change things up a little and for me to have one place per week to share a little of what is inspiring me, what I’m reading, links I’ve loved, pictures from our week, etc.

I’m also bringing back the daily LIVE show on Facebook. I’ll be going live every weekday morning between 9 a.m. and 9:15 a.m. CT. On this show, it will be a place for us to hang out and talk about great deals, for me to share money-saving tips, for me to answer a few of your questions live, and to just share daily inspiration with you. It will be like having our morning coffee together every morning… except I don’t drink coffee anymore! 🙂

Want to know my favorite deals every day? Follow my Deals Only Instagram account that I personally curate and post to each day.

2. It’s also time to give myself permission to start some new blogs.

After much thought and counsel and contemplation (and making sure that I’m not biting off more than I can chew!), I’m ready to let you know that I’m launching two new blogs in 2017!!

These are blogs that are on the topics I’m most passionate about and are ones that you request I write on the most:

YourBloggingMentor.com will be a blog dedicated to inspiring and educating beginning and intermediate bloggers find their voice, increase their income, and broaden their impact.

CrystalPaine.com will be my very personal blog filled with practical advice for the everyday woman on topics of faith, family, fitness, and fashion.

Each of these blogs will just have one post per week, mostly written by me. I’m excited about the opportunity to offer specific niche blogs so that you can subscribe to the topic(s) that most interest you and don’t have to come here to wade through lots of content that isn’t related to you or helpful to you. I’m also excited to have a place where posts that I put a lot of time and effort into don’t get quickly bumped down by new deal posts.

Note: The blogs aren’t live yet, so in the mean time, while we’re working behind the scenes to get these blogs set up, if you want to get my weekly personal email newsletter, sign up here. You can also follow me on my personal Instagram account or subscribe to my channel on YouTube.

We’ll be sure to let you know just as soon as these blogs are up and running. Our goal is that they will be live by the end of March! I’m SO excited and can’t wait to see what the future holds!

Thank you, again, for being with me on this journey. Thank you for the opportunity to serve you. It’s my heart’s desire and goal that by making these changes, it will allow me to serve you in a more organized, streamlined, and helpful manner!

photo credit

Shared Jan 1, 2017 comment

A Peek into My Life This Week (new feature!)

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A Peek into My Life This Week (new feature!)

Published: by on   |  This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Welcome to a brand-new feature I’ll be running here every Sunday called a A Peek Into My Life This Week.

Starting today, the rest of the content on the blog throughout the week is now going to be focused on where to find great deals, money-saving tips, and content that has a frugal focus (look for my post tomorrow where I share all the details on the big changes that are coming for me as a blogger in 2017), this weekly post will be our place to just chat and for me to share things I’m loving right now and give you a little peek into our life from the past week.

So many of you have asked for me to share these things on a regular basis and I thought this would be a fun way for me to do this every week in one place. Plus, it will be fun for me to keep track of these types of things for myself, too. 🙂

What I’m Reading

This week, I finished reading Looking for Lovely. There wasn’t anything earth-shattering in it, but I enjoyed it and it inspired me in my Year of Yes.

This week, I’m reading books from my shelf from the four different categories I chose for 2017: Candles in the Dark (an old Christian reprint), A Portrait of Emily Price (a story-driven book), A Trip Around the Sun, and The Year of Yes (a book on life improvement).

I’m hoping to finish both The Year of Yes and A Portrait of Emily Price this week. I’ll let you know how that goes next week! {See my Reading Goals for 2017 if you missed them yesterday.}

What I’m Listening To

I love to listen to music while I’m working on the computer. But I’m picky about what music I listen to while working because I can get easily distracted by music and instead of it enhancing my productivity, I’m so into the music and the lyrics that I forget I’m supposed to be writing or answering emails or working altogether!

I found this playlist on YouTube this week and I’ve loved using it as background music while working. There are only a few songs on it that I don’t really like — which is saying a lot because I typically like about 15% of songs in playlists I find! 😉

Do you listen to music while working? Do you have any recommendations for me? I’d love to know because I’m always looking for new playlists to try out!

What I’m Watching

Jesse and I are slowly working through Season 2 of Poldark. While there are a few edge-y parts of the show, we overall really love it. It’s engaging, interesting, and we love the depth of the character development.

We also watched The Secret Life of Pets for family movie night this week. I’d give it a meh rating. Not great, not bad.

{Any family movie recommendations for us? We’re always looking for new ones. Or, any other shows you’ve loved that you think Jesse and I would love, too?}

What I’m Working On

I’ve not been a Planner Girl for a long time because I’ve fallen in love with Google Calendar. However, when I saw Beth Anne’s beautiful planner, I knew I wanted to support her Kickstarter and also try to experiment with becoming a Planner Girl again. I honestly think there’s a good chance I’m going to really, really love using a planner again. (See lots of pictures of the inside of my planner here.)

I can already see the benefits of sitting down and really mapping out the week. I’m still using Google Calendar for business stuff and my editorial calendar, etc. but I think having a place to plan goals for the week and write down successes and blessings and projects is going to be a really valuable exercise for my life overall.

Plus, I LOVE the feature to track habits!

What I’m Pondering

I posted the above picture on Instagram last night and said:

What are you filling your mind with? Are you letting it be filled with negativity, with worry, and/or with made up stories about situations based upon what something might “seem” instead of going to the source and finding out the truth?

Or, are you choosing to believe the best, focus on uplifting and positive things, and cultivate a grateful spirit?
You get to choose what you fill your mind with and what you let stay there. Choose wisely!

What you think about dictates how you live.

What are you reading, watching, listening to, working on, and/or pondering? I’d love to hear!

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Shared Dec 30, 2016 comment

My 10 Goals for 2017 + 2 Habits I’m Working on Developing

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My 10 Goals for 2017 + 2 Habits I’m Working on Developing

Published: by on   |  This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Last year, I only set 4 simple goals. Mostly, because I knew that there’s no way I could have a Year of Rest and have a long list of goals. It was good for me, but I am so ready to get back to more formal goal-setting and to get back to our Monthly Goal-Setting Updates here. I’ve missed those!

Here are the 10 goals I have for this year:

Personal Goals

1. Run 3 miles in 30 minutes — I took up running again this year — as part of my fitness plan that my nutritionist put together for me. I’ve never been skilled in the running department, but I’ve started to really enjoy it and am wanting to push myself here and be able to easily run 3 miles in 30 minutes. Right now, I can run a 10-minute mile, but it’s really pushing myself. So we’re working on building up my endurance so that running a 10-minute mile is simple!

2. Make it to Phase 4 of the nutrition plan — I’m currently almost finished with Phase 2 and am so excited to start Phase 3. My nutritionist says that I’ll feel 10 times better than I feel now when I hit Phase 3. It’s hard for me to even imagine that since I feel SO amazing now, but he’s been right about pretty much everything else so far on this program, so I’m going to trust him!

He thinks that at the rate I’m going and progressing, I’ll be able to start Phase 4 by mid-2017! And I guess that when I hit Phase 4, I’ll feel absolutely and utterly amazing!

3. Read 48 books I already own — I didn’t read as much in 2016 nor did I set any reading goals because I let myself have a lot more time to rest, feel, think, process, sleep, and just slowly go through one or two books at time. I wanted to see what that felt like… and I realized it was good for a year, but now I’m anxious to get back to more reading and having a few books going at once! I decided to challenge myself this year to focus on reading books I already own.

So I picked 48 books — a stack of 12 books that were old Christian reprints, a stack of 12 books that were story driven, a stack of 12 books that were about improving your life, and a stack of 12 books to encourage me in my Christian walk. My plan is to try to read one from each stack each month. We’ll see how it goes! (By the way, my top 10 reads from 2016 post is coming this weekend!)

Marriage Goals

4. Go on a 4-day completely unplugged trip — Jesse and I went to Hawaii earlier this year and it was downright incredible. I left my computer at home and didn’t get online or on social media the entire time. It was BLISS!! We walked for miles on the beach, I fell in love with the ocean, I read 10 books (!), we scouted out the cheapest food options (because the food is SO $$ there! But never fail, we found a Subway we could walk to a few miles away from our hotel!), and we just had so much fun together.

We’re planning to do the same sort of trip of this year, but we’re going somewhere different. We’re currently saving up and looking for deals so that we can do the trip for just a few hundred dollars like the Hawaii trip! 🙂

(If you look closely, you’ll see that the dates on The Confident Mom Household Planner are off. I think I accidentally printed a page from another year. But I just adjusted for this week and will make sure that next week I print off the correct page for the correct year!)

Family Goals

5. Go to South Africa as a family — Our kids have been begging to go back to South Africa and we’ve set a goal to make that happen this year. We’re hoping to find a great deal on tickets like we did last time during a timeframe that works for our friends in South Africa. The kids are already getting really anxious thinking about it (and of course, Jesse and I are, too!!)

Financial Goals

6. Sell our 3 rental houses in Kansas — So, we loved having rental houses and it’s been a great investment for us (we paid cash for them and have turned a profit on them pretty much every single month we’ve had them!), but we have decided that we’d like to sell them (and hopefully turn an additional profit when we sell them) and put that money into our house savings. Then, once we’ve purchased a house here, we’ll start saving to invest in local real estate.

7. Save up to pay cash for a house here in TN — As I mentioned above, this is something we’ve been mulling over a lot this past year and thinking through and have decided to start saving aggressively for in 2017. We currently have around 15% of the total amount we’d like to save set aside in our house savings fund. By selling our rental houses, we should have about 75% of the total amount saved… which will mean, we should be able to save the additional 25% needed this year if we careful and strategic.

And yes, homes in this area are much more expensive than Kansas!! We could move about 30 minutes away and homes would go down significantly in price, but we love this area and we love being so close to our church, to the kids’ school, and to other places we go to on a weekly basis. We’ve also decided we’d like to buy something that would be our “forever home” and would give us enough space to have offices + bedrooms for each of the kids.

**Not listed specifically, but very important to us: We decided to take a leap of faith and significantly increase our giving this year. We didn’t feel comfortable listing the details of that as a goal here publicly, but we wanted to acknowledge that this was happening. Because honestly, it’s our heartbeat and one of the number one reasons I blog and have a business — so that we can give generously to causes and people near and dear to our hearts.**

Business Goals

8. Release 2 courses — We have plans in the works for me to release two full-fledged courses on two different topics. More coming on that in the next 3-6 months!

9. Start 3 new blogs — More on this coming on Monday! I can’t wait to tell you all about what’s coming and what’s changing here. And I promise I haven’t up and lost my mind… this is something that we’ve spent a lot of time talking through and sitting on and making sure was not over-committing. I think when I explain it all, it will make sense to you, too — and I hope you’re excited about it like I am!

10. Learn YouTube/iMovie — I already told you about this goal! You can follow me on YouTube if you want to watch me learn! 🙂

2 Habits I’m Working on Developing

I decided to choose two very specific habits I want to work on in 2017. Both of these are ones that will make a big impact on our home and family for me to be consistent with. I’m going to use the habit tracker at the back of my new Brilliant Life Planner to keep tabs on my daily progress on these. I think this system will really encourage me to make this a priority!

  • More compartmentalized work schedule — This is one way that I’m saying “yes” to my family. I’ve done a lot better this year at having a compartmentalized work schedule, but I want to get even better at it in 2017. Which is why I’m putting it out here and making it a habit I’m tracking every single day. My official work times starting on Monday will be: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. = Work Time, 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. is Unplugged Family Time. We’ll see how this goes!
  • To bed by 11 p.m. — My actual bedtime is 9:30 p.m. so I can get in a good 7-8 hours of sleep and still wake up by 5:30 a.m. But I’m giving myself a little wiggle room for the occasional later night or for weekends. Which is why I decided to go with 11 p.m. — because I think it’s a little doable longterm and I’ll probably have more success and consistency if I give myself a little grace here. 🙂

What are YOUR goals for 2017? Tell us in the comments!

Do you need some motivation to make your health a priority in 2017? I have a passion to help you become your best self. I don’t want you to go through life feeling exhausted and burnt out. I don’t want you to have to rely upon coffee or coping mechanisms to make it through the day!

I want to help you prioritize your health, boost your energy, and set realistic goals for self-care. Join me for the 15 Days to a Healthier You Program — registration ends in just a few days! Sign up here.

Shared Dec 29, 2016 comment

My One Word for 2017 (it might surprise you!)

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My One Word for 2017 (it might surprise you!)

Published: by on   |  This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Last year was my first year ever to choose a word for the year and really live by it. In previous years, I had chosen words, but they had never truly stuck or made a lasting impact.

2016 was entirely different.

My Year of Rest changed my life in very powerful and profound ways. In fact, I don’t think I’ll ever be the same as a result of making the commitment to a year of rest. (You can read more about how this simple word radically changed my life in 2016 here.)

As the end of 2016 began to near, I started really thinking through what my dreams and hopes and goals for 2017 would be, as well as what I wanted to invest my life in during this next year.

I learned so much from streamlining my life and paring down so I had breathing room this past year. I learned that when I stepped back from all of the crazy and gave myself space to breathe and laugh and LIVE more, there were parts of me I didn’t know existed. Sadly, I’d been too busy and too focused on productivity to recognize them.

A few things I’ve discovered in 2016: I’m actually not as ultra minimalist as I thought I was, I actually like wearing bright colors and new styles, I actually am less of an introvert and more of a people person than I realized, and I thrive and enjoy life more when I’m a little more spontaneous. (If you missed it, be sure to read yesterday’s post on 10 Surprising Things I Learned About Myself in 2016.)

I realized that saying “no” over and over and over again to the things that weren’t priorities in this season of life and/or didn’t bring me joy, gave me the space to really invest deeply in the people in my home, a few real-life relationships, and a few projects that really mattered to me.

So my Year of Rest is turning into a Year of Yes!

Now that I’ve pared down my life, cut back on the calendar clutter, and made space to live and breathe, 2017 is the year I’m committed (and able!) to say yes to more spontaneity and joy and color and laughter and fun and trying new things.

What I’m Saying Yes To:

  • My marriage
  • My health
  • My kids
  • Real-life relationships
  • Investing in a few extra things in my week that spark joy
  • Being more adventurous & spontaneous in a way that will bless my family
  • Trying at least a few things I’ve never tried before

Now, in case you get the idea that a Year of Yes means I’m just going to fill up my schedule again with a bunch of crazy, I’m not. This is about being intentional to continue to say no to those things that aren’t the best things in order to say “Yes” to the best — memory-making and being more present with the people nearest and dearest to me!

What I’m Not Saying Yes To:

  • Chaos
  • Crazy
  • Calendar clutter
  • Meaningless to do’s
  • Guilt
  • Comparison
  • Trying to be someone who is not true to who God has made me to be

I’ve spent too much of my life playing it safe and saying “no” to adventures and spontaneity. This is the year I’m giving myself permission to be a Yes Mom, a Yes Wife, and a Yes Friend to those in my local community. I can’t wait to see what lessons I learn and how this changes me in the months to come!

Do you need some motivation to make your health a priority in 2017? I have a passion to help you become your best self. I don’t want you to go through life feeling exhausted and burnt out. I don’t want you to have to rely upon coffee or coping mechanisms to make it through the day!

I want to help you prioritize your health, boost your energy, and set realistic goals for self-care. Join me for the 15 Days to a Healthier You Program — registration ends in just a few days! Sign up here.

Coming in the next few days: My goals for 2017, My top 10 reads from 2016, and some big changes that are coming here on the blog!

What’s YOUR word for the year? Share in the comments!

Shared Dec 29, 2016 comment

From Jesse: A brand-new journal for men!

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From Jesse: A brand-new journal for men!

Published: by on   |  This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

From Crystal: Many of you have loved our Gratitude Journals for women and kids, so I’m thrilled that Jesse has put together a Men’s Journal that is perfect for the guys in your life! I’m going to let him tell you about it…

I am so excited to bring you a new tool that will help you become more intentional, disciplined, and demonstrate gratitude in new ways this next year!

That tool is the Choose Faith Men’s Gratitude Journal!

Men, let’s face it–often the hardest words for any of us to say are “thank you” and “I love you.” I know I struggle with it, at least.

I have found that the easiest way to develop a grateful attitude internally is to write things down externally. Just sitting down to acknowledge something I am feeling–sometimes for the first time–changes my outlook for the rest of the day and even the week.

I started using this journal a number of weeks ago and am thrilled by the changes I see in myself in that little time. My relationship with my wife and how I approach my children has been positively changed by my just sitting down with pen to paper for just 5-10 minutes to reflect on the gifts in my life.

Each month of the Choose Faith Men’s Journal provides a challenge, an area to focus on, a way to be purposeful, and each day has a place for you to write your thoughts and ideas of how you can be intentional in that challenge, reflect, and grow. -Jesse

Get a FREE Preview!

Shared Dec 28, 2016 comment

10 Surprising Things I Learned About Myself in 2016

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10 Surprising Things I Learned About Myself in 2016

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I tend to become very reflective in December. It’s part of my personality and I just can’t help myself! As I’ve been thinking back over this past year and realizing how much I’ve changed, I came up with a list of 10 surprising things I learned about myself in 2016.

This feels a little self-focused for me to share, but I wanted to document it and hoped that maybe some of this would encourage you in your journey of life… that it’s okay to grow, change, and discover new facets of you, even when you’re 35!

So, in not particular order, here’s my list:

1. I Love Weight Lifting

I adore weight-lifting. Really and truly adore it. It makes me feel so empowered and strong. I think there’s something really gratifying about lifting a weight that you thought was impossible to life.

The biggest lesson I’ve learned is that success as a weight-lifter begins between your own two ears. When you tell yourself you can’t do something, there’s a good chance you won’t believe you can so you will not even fully try.

2. I Am Not as Introverted as I Thought I Was

I’ve long known I was an introvert, but this year, I did some things that forced me to get outside of my introverted bubble and have to really spend a lot of time with people. Going to Israel and Italy by myself for 10 days with a group of 20+ people whom I really didn’t know at all was a huge step for me in breaking through personal barriers of feeling like I just wasn’t a “people person” and couldn’t ever deal with being around a lot of people for long periods of time.

The business has grown this year in that we have a few dedicated full-time employees, which means I spend a lot more time interacting with them on a daily basis. I thought this would be too much for me — especially because I usually work with one of my local team members in person at least 4 days per week. But I’ve found that I LOVE that my team is like my family and that we are so involved in each other’s lives.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I will always recharge with quiet and try to make sure I have some alone time at least a few times per week. However, I’m learning that I actually like people a lot more than I realized. In fact, I actually don’t enjoy being by myself for long periods of time anymore!

3. I Can Survive Without Coffee

This is pretty earth-shattering. Because anyone who knows me well, knows how much I loved coffee.

But I gave it up 18 weeks ago and I have survived without it. And not just that, but I’ve experienced a whole new level of health in part from giving it up. (I still love the smell of it, but I’ll happily drink a Decaf Chai Latte instead!)

4. I Am More of Fashionista Than I Realized

I’ve always said, “I’m not a fashionista!” and I’ve had a really minimalistic wardrobe for years. But this year, I started wearing more colors, paying attention to what more of the trends were, and experimenting with new looks and styles.

And I’m discovering that I actually love to spend a little time to look put together, I love having more clothes and shoes and jewelry to give me more outfit options, and I love finding new hairstyles that are simple and cute.

5. I Can Do Scary Things Without Being Terrified

As I’ve challenged myself outside my comfort zone more and more, I’m finding I get less scared going into new and unknown situations. For instance, I joined a Discipleship Group at church and this is a group that goes really deep, is really small, and requires a lot of vulnerability. I thought this would terrify me — especially because I didn’t really even know anyone in my group going into it — but I realized that I wasn’t even anxious about the first week.

I’m building deep and beautiful relationships with these women and learning so much from our time together. I’m already sad that it only goes through mid-year 2017!

6. I Love Volunteering at Church

I was asked to serve as a volunteer in the girls’ class at church over the summer. It was just going to be for a few weeks and wouldn’t really require much effort at all. I thought it’d be way outside my comfort zone since I didn’t know most of the people who were part of the Children’s Ministry and I’ve never been involved in Children’s Ministry before.

Instead, I quickly learned that I love it! I ended up offering to help lead the 5th-6th grade room of about 30-40 boys/girls this year. It has been so good to get the opportunity to build into these kids’ lives, to use some of the things I’ve learned as a speaker to get to teach and lead, and to get to build relationships with the other teachers, too!

7. I Adore Coaching Other Bloggers

I think that I’ve been blogging for so long that I take for granted that I really have anything to offer other bloggers. There are so many great books and programs and blogs out there that I felt like I didn’t really need to add to the “noise”.

But then I spoke at the Business Boutique events and I got the opportunity to interact with a number of women who were beginning bloggers… and a light bulb went off in my head: I LOVE this!!! I realized that I did have something to offer other bloggers, I do have a lot of experience, I have made a lot of mistakes and learned a lot of lessons that would be valuable to share with others, and I am incredibly passionate about the topic of blogging.

So I launched my first Blog Coaching Program in November and had the honor of coaching about 300 bloggers for 4 weeks. It was so rewarding and I loved every minute of it. I have some exciting plans for 2017 — including a brand-new blog I’ll be launching specifically for bloggers, as well as a course and possibly some other resources!

8. I Have Outgrown This Blog

Speaking of blogging, I spent all of this year of rest really searching and pondering what I want the next 5-10 years of my life to look like. After blogging for almost 12 years, I knew I needed some new direction. But I didn’t just want to jump into something or start something without a lot of thought.

So I stepped back, soaked in the quiet, and did a lot of thinking and praying. In October, the clarity finally came and it started with the realization that I have outgrown this blog. By that, I mean that what I originally started this blog for has gotten lost because I have so many other things I’m passionate about.

I can’t wait to tell you what this means for this blog and for the future. It’s exciting and I’ll be telling you more about it in a few days!

9. I Can Thrive Without Sugar & Chocolate

I love me some homemade treats — like chocolate cake and cinnamon rolls and pancakes and chocolate chip cookies and Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins. Basically, combine carbs and chocolate and I’m probably going to be in love with it.

But this year, I gave up sugar and chocolate and almost all of my favorite carbs for a few months. Here’s the surprise: I’m still alive and kicking! 🙂

Honestly, it was really hard for me to give these things up. I realized how much joy I found from food. But it wasn’t just joy (which isn’t a bad thing), I realized that I had made food somewhat of a coping mechanism for myself. When I had a hard day, I’d eat carbs. When I was stressed or tired, I’d turn to carbs.

Giving them up and then finding out that I could actually thrive without them was so empowering to me as a person. I could feel great and energetic and happy while eating a really simple diet of clean, whole foods. I felt this sense of amazing freedom — and it’s motivated me to continue to eat really healthfully because it’s just not worth it to put junk into my body!

10. I Actually Do Have Time to Really Take Care of Myself Well

I have long made excuses for not truly prioritizing my health: I have too much to do, too many people need me… and on and on it went. When really, in most cases, it was me choosing not to prioritize my health over other things.

This year, by making the decision to hire a nutritionist, I also was making the commitment to prioritize my health. I just didn’t have any idea how much he’d require me to prioritize my health!

One of the commitments you make on the plan is that you check-in with Jason (the nutritionist) every single day. You share your weight and how you feel and then Jason will give you suggestions or change things based upon how you’re doing.

Well, Jason quickly realized that a big part of my problem was that I wasn’t getting enough sleep. When my body would give warning signs that something was off, I’d ignore them because I had “things to do.”

Jason has patiently coached me and challenged me to let go of my old patterns of making productivity my be all, end all and he’s taught me to really slow down and pay attention to what my body is saying. He’s also been adamant that I have to get at least 7+ hours of sleep every. single. night.

I thought I was doing a decent job of getting enough sleep, but now that Jason has taught me what it feels like to actually be really rested, I realized that I rarely ever felt rested up until the last 4 months of my life. I discovered that I need to be in bed for at least 8+ hours in order to get a good solid 7+ hours of sleep at night. This has meant I’ve had to re-arrange my schedule some, but it’s been so worth.

I’m so much calmer, so much happier, so much more effective and efficient, because I’m actually really fueling my body well, instead of expecting it to run well on fumes. I hope that these habits I’m developing and these changes I’m making stick with me for the rest of my life!

By the way, if you’re struggling to find time to prioritize your health, please do consider joining me for the 15 Days to a Healthier You Program. I want to share with you what I’ve learned this year and help give you practical steps to become the best version of you that you can be!

More posts coming in the next few days: My Word for 2017, My Goals for 2017, My Top 10 Reads from 2016, and Some Big Changes Coming For Me as a Blogger. 

What have YOU learned about yourself this year? I’d love to hear! Tell us in the comments.

Shared Dec 28, 2016 comment

Why I’m Starting a YouTube Channel in 2017

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Why I’m Starting a YouTube Channel in 2017

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Cents of Style: Get a "Just Start" bracelet for just $9.99 shipped!

For the past few years, I’ve considered starting a YouTube channel. It was something I really wanted to do, something I saw a lot of potential with, but every time I began to let myself seriously consider it, I would talk myself out of it.

Why? Because it would take a lot of work to figure out what would be successful, because I don’t know how to edit videos, and because all of the details required to pull it off felt overwhelming.

I decided to stop making excuses in 2017 and to just start. I don’t know what will be successful on YouTube, but I’ve begun following other successful YouTubers and paying attention to what’s working for them.

I set goals to spend a little bit of time each week to learn how to use iMovie. And then I committed to just start posting videos on YouTube — even if they are far from perfect.

It’s going to be an adventure and I know I’m going to make some mistakes along the way, but I’ll never get anywhere if I don’t get brave and just start.

What do you wish you could do in 2017? Stop letting excuses or fear of failure or lack of enough knowledge or experience hold you back. Instead, I challenge you to just start… start somewhere, do something, take that first step. You’ve got what it takes to just start!

Don’t wait for perfect conditions. Don’t wait until you have it all figured out.

Just start. Take that first step. Today.

It won’t be perfect. It might take you longer than you expected. And there will probably be some bumps and detours on the journey.

But you’ll never reach the finish line if you keep making excuses for getting off the starting blocks. Just start!

Psst! Get your very own “Just Start” bracelet for just $9.99 shipped when you use coupon code BESTWEEK3 at checkout! This offer is valid through January 4, 2017.

OVER-SPENDING EVERY SINGLE MONTH?Grab these FREE Budgeting Sheets!

Click here to download!
Shared Dec 28, 2016 comment

A Peek Into Our Laid Back Christmas

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A Peek Into Our Laid Back Christmas

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I told you earlier this month that we’ve intentionally chosen to keep Christmas simple. I thought I’d share a little peek into our Christmas celebration the past few days to give you an idea of how that has looked for us…

We did our family Christmas gift exchange before we left for Kansas. We gave the kids a few gifts each this year — 1-2 physical gifts + a subscription. We do it a little differently every year, but it’s usually no more than a few gifts that are things our kids really, really want. This is what works for our family and what our kids prefer.

We also did our annual Dollar Store Stocking Adventure. This is one of our family’s favorite traditions! We all go to the Dollar Store right before Christmas and everyone gets $6 to spend to buy one item per person (+ tax) for their stocking. We have so much fun trying to split up, hide our purchases, find something creative that no one else would come up with, and pick gifts that people would really love. Plus, the kids get to pick one gift for themselves, too!

I wish I would have taken pictures of our family Christmas evening, but we were having so much fun together that I completely forgot to ever bring out my camera! I was determined to not forget to take pictures the rest of Christmas!

We drove to Kansas and stayed in an Extended Stay America because they had asked our family to do a review (look for a blog post on January 9 with my complete in-depth review!). We were overall very impressed with the price (just $65 to $75 per night per room) and that included a room with a full kitchen + a grab and go breakfast.

We loved having a full kitchen as we brought most of our food for the meals we wouldn’t be eating with family and it was so nice to be able to cook hot meals on the stove and have a full-sized refrigerator to store everything in.

We spent Friday afternoon and evening with my family. We got to help decorate their tree and play some really fun games. If you missed all the pictures from that day, be sure to check out my post here.

We slept in on Saturday and then spent the morning wrapping presents and buying a few more items we still needed to get for our extended family gift exchanges. Then, we went with Jesse’s family to their church for the Christmas Eve Service and back to their house for dinner afterward.

We went to Jesse’s family’s house for Christmas Day. And the day began, as it usually does, with photos in front of the Christmas tree. Our kids asked if they could wear their new matching footie PJs jammies all day and we said, “Of course!”

And then it was time for cousin pictures in their PJs. 🙂 How cute are they???

And then it was time for the annual Sibling Photo. Not all the siblings could make it this year, but there was clearly still plenty of PERSONALITY going on here. 😉 {Jesse’s siblings have some of the biggest and most diverse personalities — and we love ’em to pieces!!}

We finally got a photo where almost everyone was smiling and no one was goofing off. 🙂

We drew names for all the siblings and cousins this year and had a blast seeing what everyone had picked out for their person. There were a few gag gifts given which meant that there was lots of laughter and teasing, too — which is pretty much *always* what happens when we are with this bunch!

The little cousins pulled out a game of chess and played together — which was so fun to watch!

We also had some rousing rounds of the Pie Face Game. (I didn’t get any pictures but I got some video proof here!) (By the way, the Pie Face Game is pretty expensive. I found a much cheaper knock-off version on Amazon here.)

We ended the night with stockings and watching the Chiefs beat the Broncos (oh yeah!)

We spent all day Monday with my family for Christmas. We also drew names — this time with all of the family members. We used DrawNames.com which makes it so nice because everyone can share a wishlist.

Silas was SO excited with his gifts!!

My brother, Zachary, picked Jesse’s name and got him such good gifts — including this genuine leather skull cap for him to wear underneath his motorcycle helmet. Zachary always seems to find his person unique and expensive gifts that he gets at a great deal in some sweet sale he discovers online or on eBay. 🙂

After the gift exchange, my dad had put together a treasure hunt for all the cousins. They had so much fun finding each clue — and of course they were written in rhymes because that’s how my dad rolls!

When we were little kids, he almost always made us go on treasure hunts on Christmas morning for us to find our gifts! It’s such a fun memory — and I loved watching the kids get to experience the same joy this Christmas.

(By the way, if you don’t have a lot of money for gifts but you want to make things fun and memorable, you could consider creating a treasure hunt to find the gift(s) — because it always make it seem a lot more special and thoughtful, even if it’s a really small and simple gift at the end of the treasure hunt!)

The highlight of Christmas for me was meeting my little sister’s long-awaited baby boy — Atlas Flint! I could have held him all day. And the kids are utterly smitten with him (as evidenced by Silas’ face!)

All in all, it was a great Christmas. Simple, laid back, and full a memory-making with our family.

And now we’re in the car headed back to Tennessee all rested, refreshed, and hearts full.

How was YOUR Christmas? I’d love to hear in the comments!

Shared Dec 27, 2016 comment

I am SO excited to announce this!

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I am SO excited to announce this!

Published: by on   |  This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

A few friends have told me that I need to go back and look at pictures of myself from a year ago because they see such a difference in how I looked then versus how I look now. So I did recently — and it was pretty shocking.

You guys. I forgot how tired I was. How utterly bone weary exhausted I was. How much I was living on fumes and adrenaline… and, let’s be honest, coffee… to make it through each day.

But the pictures of 2015 Crystal bring me right back to that place and space of burn out.

I don’t shame myself or condemn myself for being in that place. It was what I knew. It had become my existence. And I had bought into the hustle of more.

To be clear, I was chasing good things overall and my heart and intentions were good, but my body was suffering from all of the pushing and pursuing and productivity.

When I declared 2016 as my Year of Rest, little did I dream how much that commitment was going to change my life!

The changes began on the inside as I stepped back from the crazy, said no to almost everything and everyone, and pared down my life to the basics. It was in that space of quiet that I started to really re-examine my life and my priorities and realize that I had made productivity more of a priority than my family, my marriage, and my health.

I processed through a lot the first few months as I walked into a space in my life where there was so much breathing room. It felt too quiet. It felt too empty. And it forced me to work through a lot of unresolved hurt and grief and wounds I had stuffed down deep in order to stay focused and driven for so many years.

Once I had cried and cried and cried some more, I began to experience a new season of wholeness. I stopped finding my joy and worth in what I did. I stopped living life according to who I thought I was supposed to be. I started experimenting with new things and letting myself try living a little less on the ultra-frugal, ultra-minimalistic side.

This gave me newfound freedom, joy, and LIFE. It also emboldened me and my husband to make some decisions that were in the best interest of our family — like having our kids start going to a small Classical Christian School (which was a really, really big decision for us!). It also encouraged me to think long and hard about what would spark more joy in my life and I began to add in a few new things — like serving in the Children’s Ministry at church and joining a Discipleship Group at church.

And then came the completely unexpected change: I got connected with a nutritionist and made some radical changes in my diet and overall lifestyle.

I gave up coffee.

I did a cleanse.

I gave up white flour and all sweeteners and pretty much all processed food and a host of other foods.

I started drinking a gallon+ of lemon water a day.

It was torture for the first few weeks. I missed coffee and chocolate and pancakes and cinnamon rolls and, hello, all the NORMAL foods!

I was sick of salads (I had to eat them for breakfast many mornings on the eating plan — yuck!). Sick of fish. Sick of Wasa crackers. Sick of drinking so much water.

But because I’m not one to be a quitter and because I had committed to stay on the plan for 2 months, I stuck with it.

At 5 weeks in, something changed inside of me. My head cleared. My energy sky-rocketed. And I stopped craving junk food and started wanting to eat healthy stuff.

Not only that, but I felt so empowered. I was living without coffee! I was surviving without chocolate and sugar and empty carbs.

Most of all, I HAD GOTTEN OFF ALL OF MY MEDS!

Every. single. one of them.

My eczema meds.

My acne meds.

My allergy meds.

And even the 5htp that I never thought I’d be able to function without (I’d been on it ever since having Silas and any time I’d go off of it for even a day, my anxiety would come back in a serious way.)

I was functioning really, really well and feeling AMAZING — without a single pill! It was incredible — and it gave me enormous motivation to stick with the nutritional program and not give up.

It has now been 12 months since I officially started my Year of Rest and 18 weeks since I radically transformed my eating and my overall lifestyle and I look in the mirror and it almost seems as if I’m looking at a different person.

So many people have asked me about my Year of Rest and about the radical health changes I’ve made. For many months, I’ve been working on a special project to share some of the things I’ve learned this past year to encourage those of you who are interested in becoming the best version of yourself that you can be, too!

I have a passion to help you become your best self. I don’t want you to go through life feeling exhausted and burnt out. I don’t want you to have to rely upon coffee or coping mechanisms to make it through the day.

That’s why I created 15 Days to a Healthier You. It’s a brand-new program to help you prioritize your health and give you the hands-on strategies, support, and know-how you need to create real, lasting change — without an overwhelming time commitment!

When you sign up for 15 Days to a Healthier You, you’ll get access to:

  • Daily 15-minute LIVE videos in our exclusive private Facebook group. In these videos, I’ll be your coach and cheerleader to jumpstart your success to better health! We’ll discuss the daily lessons and projects and I’ll take a few questions live, too.
  • Daily lessons covering important topics like why self-care is important, what self-care really is (probably not what you think!), and why self-care looks different for different people.
  • Daily projects to help you stay on track and meet your personal goals.
  • Access to an exclusive members-only private Facebook group where you can find encouragement from others who are going through the series.
  • Daily accountability through the Project Check-In Threads on the Facebook Group where you can share your progress and struggles with all the participants.
  • Bonus links and resources I love for additional inspiration!

You get all of the for just $15 total! That’s just $1 per day! Go read more about this program and sign up here. 

No, I’m Not Going to Make You Give Up Coffee!

Please note: This program is not about giving you an exact formula for what you should eat or how you should exercise. Nor am I going to try to convince you that you have to give up coffee (I promise!).

I will be talking about my own personal journey and I’m happy to share more details on what has worked for me, but I want to help you figure out what works best for YOU — and that might be very different than what works for me!

Rest assured, I will not make you give up coffee, drink a gallon of lemon water, or eat salads for breakfast! I will, however, be walking you through a lot of practical exercises to help you determine simple changes you can make so you can have more energy, feel less drained, and experience a lot more joy in your life!

25% Of All Proceeds Go to South Africa!!!

Now for the really exciting part…

You all know that our family is madly in love with South Africa and we are very committed to using the gifts and platform God has given us here to be able to make a difference in some of the poorest communities there.

Because of this, 25% of all sales through my blog and email newsletter will be donated to fully finish the Reagoboka Centre Preschool & Community Centre where you all already helped build a two-classroom building last year.

You can see that the building is so close to being finished above (that’s a picture from our recent trip to South Africa!) and I’m prayerful and hopeful that this sale will allow us to have enough funds to help them completely finish that building so they can serve many more children, get a lot more government funding, and make a bigger difference in that community. (Read more about the building and what the money will be going to here.)

What Are You Waiting For?

Go register to join us for the 15 Days to a Healthier You program here. But hurry! Because enrollment ends January 3, 2017 and it likely won’t be open again for at least another 6 months — or even longer!

When Christmas just hurts...Read this post for encouragement!
Shared Dec 25, 2016 comment

When Christmas Just Hurts

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When Christmas Just Hurts

Published: by on   |  This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

When Christmas just hurts...Read this post for encouragement!

I wrote this last year, but wanted to share it again this year in hopes it might encourage some of you who might feel the same way…

Can I be really honest with you? My heart’s been heavy this December.

I usually love the Christmas season. I love the smells, the music, the food, the time with family and friends, the special moments and memories.

But this year? My heart feels burdened.

There are so many people around me who are going through hard things… friends who are grieving the loss of a child, friends who have experienced deep physical and emotional pain this past year, friends who are struggling in their marriage, friends who are struggling financially, friends who are grieving big losses… and on and on the list goes.

I just want to fix it all and take it all away so that Christmas can be joyful and cheerful and wonderful — instead of painful and hurtful.

But I can’t take away the pain. I can’t replace what was lost. I can’t fix someone else’s marriage. I can’t heal someone else’s wounded relationship. I can’t wave a magic wand and solve someone’s unemployment struggles.

So what can I do? I can pray. I can listen. I can encourage. I can go out of my way to show that I care.

I can give the gift of myself.

And that’s the gift that most are longing for this Christmas — to know that they aren’t alone. That they are loved. That they are seen. That they are cared about. That, in the midst of all of the festivities and celebrations, their pain and hurt and heartache is not forgotten.

So my Christmas challenge for all of you today is this: In the middle of the merry-making, the carol-singing, the cookie-decorating, the present-giving, and the gift-unwrapping, look around and notice that person who is hurting and grieving.

The widow across the street. The woman holding the tattered sign on the side of the road. Your aunt sitting across the table from you at Christmas dinner.

Look into her eyes. Ask her how she’s doing. Let her know — by your words and actions — that she isn’t forgotten. That she is seen. And most importantly, that she is loved.

Give the gift of yourself this Christmas. It’s the greatest gift you have to offer.

Shared Dec 24, 2016 comment

Frugal Family Fun: The Christmas Paper Plate Game & The Tissue Box Game

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Frugal Family Fun: The Christmas Paper Plate Game & The Tissue Box Game

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We made it to Kansas on Thursday night. We drove this time as we didn’t really want to re-live our getting stuck at the airport in Dallas for 4 days experience from last year! 🙂

We spent part of yesterday with my mom and dad and my youngest brother and sister. My parents always buy a live evergreen tree with the root ball from a local nursery and then plant it after Christmas on their land (they live on 56 acres).

This means that they don’t get their tree until right before Christmas, so our kids got to help decorate it last night.

Here they are putting the finishing touches on the tree with my youngest brother. He’s 17 years younger than me and a senior in high school.

Silas thinks he’s pretty much the coolest uncle ever — especially since he has a booming eBay business. Silas has been begging and begging to start his own eBay business since he’s so fascinated by what Uncle Zachary does! 😉

And yes, my family strings their Christmas cards up around the living room. It’s a tradition passed down from my great-grandma!

The Christmas Paper Plate Game

After the tree was decorated, we played some fun games, including The Christmas Paper Plate Game. I’ve seen this around the web over the past few weeks and had wanted to try it. We had so much fun with it.

Here’s how to play the game… 

Every one gets a paper plate and a pen. Every one puts the paper plate on their head and then are instructed to:

  1. Draw a line for the floor.
  2. Draw a Christmas tree on the floor.
  3. Draw a star on the top of the tree.
  4. Add 3 ornaments to the tree.
  5. Draw a fireplace with a mantel next to the tree.
  6. Draw a stocking hanging from the mantel of your fireplace.
  7. Draw a fire in your fireplace.

Then, take your plate off your head and look at it — and, if yours looked like mine, die laughing at how terrible your drawing is!!

Then, score your drawing. You get:

  • 2 points if the tree touches the floor.
  • 2 points if your star is on top of your tree.
  • 1 point if your star touches your tree.
  • 1 point for every ornament that is actually on your tree.
  • 2 points if your stocking is actually touching your mantel.
  • 1 point if your fireplace doesn’t touch the tree (it’s a fire hazard!)
  • 2 points if your fire is actually in the fireplace.

The person with the most points wins!

The Tissue Box Game

We also played another fun MINUTE TO WIN-IT game with tissue boxes that would be great for a holiday get-together — or really any get-together.

To play, break into teams and give each team a full box of tissues. The object of the game is to see which team can get all of the tissues out of the box the fastest — while only pulling one tissue out at a time.

I have no idea if this particular tissue game has been all over the internet (I haven’t seen it before), or if my dad made it up on the spur of the moment. He’s known for making up spur-of-the-moment games that leave us all laughing our heads off!

If you want to see us playing this game in action, you can watch the short video here. And yes, apparently I have a tissue-pulling talent I didn’t know anything about! 😉

Both of these games are super frugal, would work with large groups of people of many different ages, and were so much fun!

Note: There were a few people on Facebook who were appalled at how wasteful the tissue box one was, but if you buy the boxes at the dollar store, it’s a super cheap game and you can recycle everything. Or, feel free to save the tissues and use them for something else. 🙂

Shared Dec 22, 2016 comment

Homemade Christmas Potpourri in 2 minutes!

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Homemade Christmas Potpourri in 2 minutes!

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Easy homemade Christmas potpourri! Fancy it up or make it frugal -- whatever works for you!

Christmas Potpourri

Want to make your house smell amazing and all Christmas-y?? Try making a pot of this Stovetop Potpourri.

I made this earlier this week and my husband walked in the door and was like, “What smells SO good??”

This recipe literally takes 2 minutes to make and can last for a few days (just refrigerate overnight, add more water, and simmer again!)

Christmas Potpourri Recipe Ingredients

  • 2 oranges (or the peel from 4-5 whole oranges — no need to ruin good oranges if yours aren’t past their prime!)
  • 1 teaspoon cloves (ground or whole)
  • 1 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon (or a few cinnamon sticks)
  • Your favorite essential oils (optional)
  • 2-3 cups water

Christmas Stovetop Potpourri variations

This recipe is extremely versatile! It can be incredibly frugal if you use what you have on hand — such as apple cores, orange peels, and/or fruit going bad.

Or — as these photos show — you can fancy it up with cranberries, lemons, pine sprigs, or whatever scents you enjoy!

How to Make Homemade Christmas Potpourri

1. Cut the oranges (and any other fruit) in half or fourths and place them in a medium saucepan.

2. Sprinkle the spices over the fruit and pour the water over everything to cover.

3. Simmer on low for 4-6 hours.

4. Check the saucepan occasionally and add more water as necessary.

You can also make this in a small crockpot set on low for several hours — perfect for if you will be gone, or away from the kitchen for any period of time.

Stovetop Christmas Potpourri FAQs

How long does homemade Christmas potpourri last?

You can simmer one batch of Christmas potpourri for the better part of a day (especially if it’s in a slow cooker). You can also refrigerate it and use it again the next day (see below).

How many times can you use stovetop potpourri?

You can reuse this stovetop potpourri, however, if you use apples, the mixture will turn into applesauce (which can burn and smell horrible!) So if you plan to re-simmer the mixture for a few days, skip the apples!

How do you make potpourri smell stronger?

Adding more spices, more citrus fruits, and more essential oils will intensify the smell. Alternatively, if you want less scent, you can add more water.

Recipe

Stovetop Christmas Potpourri


Author Crystal Paine
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 6 hours

Ingredients
  

  • 2 oranges
  • 1 tsp cloves ground or whole
  • 1 tsp nutmeg
  • 2 tsp cinnamon or a few cinnamon sticks
  • Your favorite essential oils optional
  • 2-3 cups water

Instructions

  • Cut the oranges (and any other fruit) in half or fourths and place them in a medium saucepan.
  • Sprinkle the spices over the fruit and pour the water over everything to cover.
  • Simmer on low for 4-6 hours.
  • Check the saucepan occasionally and add more water as necessary.

Notes

This recipe is extremely versatile! It can be incredibly frugal if you use what you have on hand — such as apple cores, orange peels, and/or fruit going bad.
Or you can fancy it up with cranberries, lemons, pine sprigs, or whatever scents you enjoy!
You can also make this recipe in a small crockpot set on low for several hours — perfect for if you will be gone, or away from the kitchen for any period of time.

Love this recipe?

Make sure to share and save it on your favorite platform below!

Pin Recipe Share Recipe

Get the recipe here or watch me make the frugal version in the short video below.

Psst! I’d love for you to subscribe to my YouTube channel while you’re there! One of my 2017 goals is to learn how to record & edit videos for YouTube — and I’d love to have you join me for the ride!

Products shown in the video: