Little Things That Make it Feel Like the Holidays

My holiday has not been a relaxing and festive one. I have had no Christmas parties. No time to make cookies. No time to do much of anything besides Christmas shop after work. I start my third job today which will keep me even busier. I am thankful for it none the less. I have been doing a few little things to make it feel like Christmas around here. If not for me for David. This is his first Christmas that he is able to truly participate in. I am so excited to see his face on Christmas morning. 

• Christmas Movies and TV Shows: We have been watching lots of Christmas shows on Netflix. In the kids section they have a whole Christmas section. We have watched tons of Thomas the Train, Madagascar, Shrek, and more. 
• Christmas Music: We have an Amazon Echo. So many times I tell her to play Christmas carols or Elvis Christmas music. David loves it. He dances and grooves every time music comes on. 
• Christmas Lights: We have tons of Christmas lights in the house connected to a remote control system. I let David turn them on and off. To him it is like a magical light show.
• Hot tea and Hot coco: I started doing this because I am currently sick but it really does make it feel more like the holidays. Sipping on a warm drink soothes the soul.
• Winter Candle: I bought and fell in love with the Holiday Cookies candle by Sonoma from Kohls. It is heavenly. After burning it once my room smells good for days. 
• Fuzzy Socks: I know this may sounds completely silly but this is huge to me. Fuzzy socks make it feel like Christmas to me. I have always had feet on ice in the winter and fuzzy socks are the best cure. 

I would love to hear what specials little things you do to make it feel like the holidays in your busy life. Comment below and let me know. 

God bless,

Deborah West

Beginning Again

I will not go into much detail because the truth is I have no idea how my life will play out right now. I do not want people judging me or picking sides. I do not want people begging to know things that just are not their business. But I am at a new stage in my life. I am having to go back to work and provide for myself. I have more bills than my current job can provide for and over $10,000 in debt. I have no idea where my future stands or if my dreams of being a homeschool mom will even come to a reality. I am beginning again. I have no expectations and huge dreams for my life right now but I do know I want the best life I can provide for my son no matter the cost. I will work hard and learn everything I need to

be able to succeed.

With all that said you will be getting totally new and different info from my blog. As of right now I will not be suggesting you buy huge expensive oils kits or $200 challenge packs because even I cannot do that right now. I will be sharing all my money saving tips and money earning tips. I will be sharing recipes, tips and tricks, DIY projects on a budget, cheap mommy son dates, Bible study tips, and much more! Also my blogs will be shorter because lets me honest I am pressed for time and I know all of you don't read the whole blog anyway. Am I right? How many of you get pissed off about the 25 paragraphs that come before the freaking recipe. Like gosh people I am only here for one thing!

My goal in writing on my blog is to express my feelings, share what I learn, give back to the community, and have something that I can call mine. I love to write an it has always been a dream of mine to be a writer so here we are. Maybe one day I will even publish a book! Who knows what life has in store for me and David but our life will be full of adventures you can count on that.

You were made for greatness!
Blessings,
Deborah West

It is so easy to lay with the pigs rather than run with the giants.

These past 3 weeks have been extremely hard on me. I felt defeated and I let myself go. One thing you can count on is that life will try to get you down. Nothing ever goes as planned. I so often let life take me down with it, when I have the power to rise above. It is so easy to lay with the pigs rather than run with the giants. I am sad to say that it took life getting better for me to realize I quit to easily. You see I want to do so many things in my life. I want to be a successful business woman, a published author, an inspiration to women and moms, an amazing wife, an amazing mother, a loyal child of God, and much more! Some days it all seems to much because I look at it right now in a day and say I cannot do all of that. But the great thing about life is that you don't have to do it all right now. We do have time and if we don't I really don't think I will regret never writing a book if I truly did not have time.

I want to take on my dream! I am going to start doing that. I have always wanted to write a cookbook. I learned very early on that I was awful at following a recipe because I always knew how to make the dish taste better. I want to share my recipes with the rest of the world! So I am going to take a leap of faith and write a recipe book. It is scary and there is a reality that no one may buy it. But I cannot control what others do; I can only control what I do. I have decided to make the most out of life!

I want to encourage you women to do the same. I know you have a lot on your plate with raising kids(and husbands), being a house wife, working, and trying to chase your dreams. I swear some days I don't even have time to eat a decent meal. Or some days I get to lunch and realize I haven't even brushed my hair! It is a lot. Then you add on top of all of that the curve balls life throws your way. Things like death, job loss, having to move, loss of income, or illness all can bring you down. It is hard. I will never lie to you and tell you it isn't. But I will tell you this; God gave you that dream, those ideas, and those visions for a reason. He gave them to you and you alone! You have a obligation to the world to follow through with them. I cannot tell you how much fulfillment you will get from chasing those dreams. It may be hard work and take long hours but it will give you blessings like no other.

I used to limit myself by thinking the only way I could make it was by working a 9-5 job and then limiting myself by thinking the only way to be successful was to be a Beachbody Coach. I was so wrong! Both of those can be amazing tools. I think that no one thing is the answer(besides Jesus). I think that MLMs, jobs, and any other opportunity is a tool and a gift that you can use to bless your life and follow your dream. I will never tell you that Beachbody or your 9-5 or bartending at night is a bad or good choice for you because that is all up to YOU! We get to choose our own future and it could include hundreds of things. No longer are we in a world where you choose a job at 18 and stick with it till your 60. You can grow and change!

So today I urge you to take those ideas, dreams, and visions God has given you and share them with the world. Maybe you can't do it right now but put the seeds in place so that you can start acting on those dreams. You can do it all sweet one; if those ideas are truly from the Lord. He will never give you more than you can handle when he is on your side.

The Importance Of Meditation and Mindfulness

Today I have an amazing guest blogger for you. I recently met Amie online and I absolutely love what she is all about and knew ya'll would too. I have asked her to speak about something close to her heart and sometime I love but am not qualified to talk about. I hope you enjoy! 

Here is a little bit about Amie:

 

Hey! My name is Amie Thomas. I am a counselor, a blogger, and I love to sing and write songs. One of the things that helps me stay balanced is meditation and mindfulness. I think that we all have a personal balance that helps us thrive in daily life. However, sometimes this balance can be thrown off by trauma or other events etc. Meditation and mindfulness is such an amazing foundation to have in these cases.

The Importance Of Meditation and Mindfulness

 What would our lives look like if we were truly in the present moment when visiting with our friends. What would our lives look like if we were intentional about how we spent our time? There are apps that tell us how much time we spend on social media, but what would it be like if there was an actual app that monitored how much we drift away from the present moment on a daily basis? Would we live differently? Would we change?

Meditation and Mindfulness

I use an app called the insight timer and meditate for usually around 20min at a time. I’ve been meditating for around 5 years now. At first I thought meditation was about clearing the mind. It’s not about that at all. Meditation is about focusing on your breath and letting thoughts come and go without clinging to them or pushing them away. I like to think of it as a car ride. When you are driving in your car and see a stop sign that’s bent over, you aren’t going to pull over and look at the stop sign and analyze it while coming up with a lengthy conclusion why it’s bent over. (That would be silly!) You are going to acknowledge that it’s bent over, make sure to stop momentarily, and then move on. *Mindfulness is simply having awareness of things. You can be mindful anywhere, anytime and with anyone you like.

Are you new to the idea of meditation and want to try it out?

Download the Headspace app and see how much can change when you spend just 10 minutes a day meditating.

Here is a link to a little video that explains more about it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoLSRGzZwow

“The point of power is always in the present moment.” –Louise Hay

-Be Fervently Driven

Amie Hope 

For More Info Go Check Out my Website: Ferventlydriven.com

 

Lessons From Memaw

My grandmother died over a year ago while I was pregnant with David. She was the world to me. I did not realize how much every moment we had together meant until she got sick. She had Parkinson's and was in a nursing home for almost two years before she died. I can honestly say she was one of my favorite people. She was the best friend I never had growing up. When I look back at my childhood I don't see memories of friends I see camping trips, homeschool days, lake house visits, and her! The role of a grandmother is so huge for some grand children and I was one of the kids. 

I love everything about her. I loved her many aprons that she always wore in the kitchen; it makes me want many, many aprons. I loved her fried chicken and baked goods. She made the best pies; everyone will tell you that. I love the fact that she had Christmas plates and glasses. I love that she had Thanksgiving plates and glasses. I loved her snowman village that she put up every Christmas. I love how she loved the little things in life. I loved that for as long as she could she worked 2 to 3 days a week even though they had no need for money. I love that she was always so involved in church and community groups. I want to be like her in so many ways. 

I must say some of my core interests and traits or through processes come from her. I have learned so many lessons from her. I miss her and think about her a lot. In some ways I am very jealous of her  sitting with Jesus and holding sweet Addie. But I wanted to share with you today a few lessons I learned from Memaw. 

• Keep the House Homey: I remember for every Sunday meal we would help her set up the table the right way. We would put out the cloth napkins, adult salt and pepper shakers, put out the mini kid shakers, and silverware. For birthdays, Christmas, Thanksgiving, New years, and on and on there were decorations and specials things to be put up that always made her house feel homey. I love that! 
• Sunday Meal: Sunday lunch is for family. After church she would always make a good meal and have us over. I love how she spent her time in the kitchen cooking and preparing for us. I see it as one of her acts of service. We were all visiting and having fun and she was in their taking care of us. I have such fond memories of those meals and how important they were. We always wanted to go out to eat with friends after church as kids. But trust me I am not looking back saying oh we had so much fun with whoever; the memories are in the family time. 
• Always Stay Manicured: She would always get a manicure and a pedicure like clock work. She got her pamper time and she always looked good. One day I hope to do the same, but for now my nails look like boy nails.
• Shopping is Girl Time: I have no clue if this is a good or bad thing I learned from her. But my love of shopping comes from my Memaw. My mom HATES shopping. But Memaw and my sister we would always go shopping. It was always fun, even if it was just window shopping. It was relaxing and exciting. 
• Bible Study Before Bed: I learned the importance of Bible study from Memaw. She always did Bible study before bed. She had monthly magazines for Bible studies or books. It was like clockwork every night before bed we would do Bible study. I love looking back at that and how she would give me old issues of her magazines to do as my Bible study. It was fun to feel like an adult.
• Family is Everything: To Memaw family was everything. That is what she lived for. She always struggled with depression but when her family was around she light up! She loved doing things with the family and watching us play. She loved taking us to church and showing us off. She did so much for us. She played with us at the lake house. She cooked us the best food. She taught me that quality family relationships are so important in life. She taught me that family time is essential for a happy life. 

I could probably go on and on the things I have learned from her but those are the big things. She never taught me with words; all the big things she taught me were with actions. I hope to be as amazing of a woman as she was. I hope to have a grace, love, and little joys that she had.

Healthy Food to Always Keep on Hand

The key to eating a healthy diet consistently is being prepared. That means always having healthy foods on hand. No more keeping cookies, Cheese Its, Blue Bell, Lean Cuisine, Red Bull, and Little Debbies on hand. You deserve better! You really do, your body wants good whole foods. I wanted to teach you about some foods I always keep on hand to ensure I have something to eat if maybe I ran out of my prepped meals or wasn't able to get to the store on time. I hope this helps you! Let me know if you have anymore questions. 

• Frozen Meats: frozen chicken, frozen ground beef, frozen ground turkey, turkey meatballs, and frozen fish. Frozen meats do take time to thaw but on the days I have no time to thaw meat I use the meatballs. You can put them in a pan with water on high and cook them in maybe 10 to 15 minutes. Also set out your meat to thaw the night before. Remember I said this was about being prepared. 
• Minute Microwave Rice: I try to always get the organic ones. You can find them at any store now even Walmart and Aldi. I get microwave rice because some days I am in a pinch and this is a huge help. Yes, I have good old fashioned rice and grains that I do use; but on those days when I have 30 minutes to be out the door and need food I can pop some rice in the microwave, blend up a Shakeology, and grab a banana.
• Easy Fruit: Banana, Apple, or Strawberries. I get other fruits as well but these I keep on hand. They are easy to use. I do get precut apples my teeth cannot handle biting into an apple due to my TMJ. My teeth move really easily. 
• Easy Vegetables: Premade Salads, Carrots, Cucumbers or Celery. This is huge and man do I compromise my preference by doing this. I love cooked veggies. I want them and I need them. I would say I hate raw vegetables. But some days I am busy or on the go and I need them. So I keep on hand premade salads to toss together real fast. I eat carrots and cucumbers dipped in balsamic vinaigrette. I eat celery with a little salt or peanut butter on it depending on the taste of the celery. 
• Healthy Sweets: Right now I have Halo Protein Ice Cream and Organic Ice Pop(Strawberry/Rhubarb and Orange/Carrot) I obviously do not encourage eating sweets daily. Lets face it though you do get cravings! Don't lie to me and tell me you do not get cravings! I know you do. So when you are craving that funnel cake or ice cream you can have an organic ice pop or protein ice cream!
• Frozen Veggies: I keep Hash Browns and steamable veggies with out any toppings. I use hash browns in the morning for my breakfast. I also use steamable veggies in emergencies. I know they are not the same as fresh veggies but it is better than having none.
• Shakeology: I always make sure to keep this on hand. It is an easy meal you can blend it up in a minute. It gives you tons of nutrients and energy. Eating Shakeology in a pinch is mucher better than a Lean Cuisine meal! Its so good for you I drink it every day. You can get a bag here.
• Energize: Okay confession I used to be a Red Bull and Rockstar junkie. When I was going to school senior year I lived on those with working part time and going to school. Now that I know they are so bad for you I use a pre-workout for me energy drinks. I also use them less often. I only need a BIG boost maybe every 2 weeks. But I always need to keep this on hand. The link to order some is here.

Now that you have this information you need to make a change. You need to act. You need to go get your grocery list and write at least 1 item down from each section. You need to be prepared. You need to make a plan. You are make for better things than being a victim. Go out an conquer your eating habits. Remember you are a winner! 

Family Pictures

They say a picture is worth a thousand words but to me these pictures are worth so much more! They are our first famly pictures since the birth of our son. When I first met Daniel I never thought we would be more than friends or that 3 years down the road we would become this beautiful family. These past 3 years have not been the easiest. Daniel and I have been through a lot. The loss of loved ones, the loss or jobs, fights, hurts, and the surprising news of David. I never imagined my life being like this. If I had told you 3 years ago what pictures I would be sharing with you today: it probably would have been my latest portfolio shots for my business card. If life would have gone the way I wanted it I would have missed out on love and this beautiful baby. Maybe my life could have been richer or easier but I love the one God gave me! I love you Daniel and baby Daivd!

Also thank you to my mother for getting the pictures taken! So without further ado here are some of the best!

Dream House Goals

So this week and well every other week I have been dreaming about my dream house. I seriously cannot stop thinking about it! So I thought it would be fun to share with you some of my favorite ideas for my dream house that I have found on Pinterest. I love dreaming about my dream house like I just cannot stop. It is so fun and exciting. So I will post a picture and tell you what I love about it and how I plan to make it my own. All credits for the photos are given below with the link from Pinterest.

The first thing that I ever knew I wanted in my house was a drink bar/station. At first I had planned on it being for alcohol since I had dreams of being a bar tender and even got trained in it. But as I got healthier and then go married; my husband and I don't want alcohol to have such a huge place in our house. So I want a tea and coffee bar! I will also have room for my workout drinks and Shakeology. I love in this picture how they have fresh muffins out. That is my goal to be the wife and mom that always has fresh treats. Of course all organic and super good for you. I also love the chalkboard; it will be so fun to write Bible verses, quotes, or the food I have laid out. I hate the cabinets though but everything else I love.

Another thing that I have always wanted is window boxes! I want them to look just like this. I want the ones on my kitchen windows to have herbs in them so I can just open my window and pick my herbs. I want the rest to be a mixture of flowers or pretty greens. I love nature but I hate the Texas heat so bringing the nature closer to me is perfect!

I absolutely love this! I want something like this for David. Of course we will have both DC and Marvel super hero's because I like both. But we will have a bigger poster of Superman because Daniel absolutely loves him. I think having this in my house and right next to it a reading chair with all the comic books in a bookshelf next to it. I want my house to be such a fun place for my kids to play and for imagination to be a huge focus in our house. This is a great way to do it! I also have to add mine will say, "Hero Up" it seriously makes me so annoyed that it doesn't have capitals.

My dream house will be on a lot of land. One of my goals is to be able to live off the land. Now of course I will buy stuff and I am not about to make my own clothes or give up Shakeology. But I want to be in control of as much as I can and be able to save money. I love this system for saving and storing rain water. Why waste! This would be perfect for watering the gardens.

This is like my dream pantry. I want all of the raw ingredient to be in jars like that and labeled with the chalk. I love it. It looks so clean and so natural. One thing that I would change is the cleaning products of course they will be Young Living!

Another goal of mine is to have tons of outdoor space for my kids to play on. I love this! I love how big it is and how much stuff you can do on it. I also have ones saved of teepees, cafes, and mud kitchens. The outdoor living spaces I want to create for the kids will be so much fun! (Your kid is going to want to come over to my house!)

I have absolutely no idea how you do this but I want it! How unique and special is that! I have a video recording of our wedding and I would love to be able to create this. It will be a very special piece of artwork in our home.

I of course want a home gym. I love how this one is set up! I love the weights and the towels. I will make it bigger and have a bigger TV though. But it is surprisingly hard to find pictures of home gyms that aren't like microscopic. So when I get mine set up I will for sure be making a blog about it and adding it to Pinterest. Your Welcome!

This is such a fun idea! It is a solar panel porch cover! It lets a little light through but works for you all day! I want tons of solar panels. I would love to be one of those people that collects enough solar energy that  I can then sell it to the power plants. My home is going to be a green home.

I feel like this is just a little bit like an old fashioned medicine set up. This will be my herb station. I want everything fresh. I love how this is set up. I love the raw look to it and how they use mason jars. I would want to change the labels though. I will want chalk board labels; I love how those look on mason jars. I am so excited to have this. My food is going to taste so fresh and mind blowing.

I love the romantic aspect of this. I want ton of outdoor living. I love the lights and candles in this one. I also love the curtains. The table being white with a stained top is my favorite part. The benches I feel give it such an opening and inviting feeling. I feel that chairs can feel confining in the outdoors; but a bench it means you can come and go as you please without scooting out your chair. It feels a big magical the whole set up. I love it.

Without a doubt I want my table bigger! I hate the end chairs but I LOVE the white table and stained top. I love the bench on one side. I love the vase of flowers. I feel fresh flowers in the house make it feel homey and welcoming. I am all about bring nature indoors! This is such a happy, bright kitchen table.

Well that was a tiny little peak into my big dreams. I know you may think I am crazy and I dream too big. But I don't. I know it is going to take a lot of work to get this and I know with wanting to live on a farm it forever will be work. But this is my dream. I grew up wanting to be a prairie girl and I will be one: one with a toilet, AC, and a car. But I will live out that prairie girl dream! I would love to know what you think!






https://www.pinterest.com/pin/21793206944723
8731/
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/217932069447384858/
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/217932069447384976/
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/AbH0igG4lgOwfE9Xw1G-a8500i-GNeNG5ZeRmc-pObrjtroyCHvSC4k/
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/217932069450753139/
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/217932069450766973/
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/217932069450779118/
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/ASLqSskYJj5pT5Gj5mWdC8jEFsi5dxbST-9HUQ9ZgB8inCWLUwR52yM/
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/217932069446988216/
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/217932069447241025/
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/217932069447238751/

My Easy to Follow Cleaning Schedule

I have always been a total slacker when it comes to cleaning. Don't get me wrong I love a clean house and I can NOT focus in messiness. I just would rather do something other than cleaning. It is very hard for me and I tend to put it off. As a mom you cannot do that. The second you gave birth you signed up for being a life long maid. You gave birth to a little mess maker. So needless to say I have had to step up my game. I tried cleaning every other weekend but that just ruined my family time. My husband works 12 hour days and we honestly only get quality time on the weekends. I do not want to spend that precious time on cleaning.

So what did I do? I sat down and made a plan. I worked it and worked it until I got something I could live with. A schedule that wasn't too hard but got all the needs done. I have waited a couple weeks to share this with you because I needed to test it out. I needed to know it worked and was not overwhelming. I admit I have never had a perfect week where I got everything done. It happens life is hard. But man my house has never been cleaner. I have never been so consistent with trying to clean daily. I feel more accomplished and I feel empowered. I am no longer a slave to the mess. I control it. I am in charge. I can clean! I really can handle it.

With all that said I would love to know your ideas about my schedule and would be thrilled if you tried it out! It is the perfect size to print out on paper. I have it hanging above my desk. Be sure to let me know what you think! Also if you want to see it all in action be sure to follow me on Snapchat. I share my daily life on there including my cleaning habits. My Snapchat user name is daradventures

We All Have a Drug of Choice

We all have our own drug of choice. You know something to kill the pain or make us forget. Something to make the hard parts of life a little less hard. I know YOU obviously don't have one because you are a good person. But I am here today to admit I have one. I'm not proud of it, but when life gets tough it sometimes helps me get through. It helps me cope. It gives me short term happiness. It helps me forget, but not without consequences.

Let me explain. So we all know the consequences of alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, sex, and self harm. But even the small tiny things we do to numb pain come with consequences. Maybe it wont kill you or maybe its just a little bad. But do not turn a blind eye to those habits. If we all want to live good full lives we need to watch out for them when life gets so bad we need them. That's when we need to work hard at getting better. I can tell you with all honesty I do not want to admit what mine is. Why? Because then my family will know. They will then judge me next time I do it. It is not fun and I honestly could never stop. But maybe if I admit it and throw it out to the world something will change.

My drug of choice is TV. No not all the time. I could go weeks with out watching TV. But when life gets really hard and I become depressed; I turn to the TV. It helps me forget my pain and focus on others. It helps me forget. It helps me pretend. It numbs me. When life gets so hard and I just want to forget the TV brings me a false reality. How sad is that? And my goodness it is so addicting.

When hard times come in life it always seems that we do the wrong thing. In a time when we should turn to family, the Lord, and healthy habits; we so often turn to destructive things. Why is that? We know better. I will be sitting some days watching TV knowing I should be doing Bible study or working out but for some reason I just cannot get up. I cannot stop doing my drug.

In a dream world during the hard times I would only use natural remedies. I use my oils, I drink Shakeology, I workout, I do Bible study, I eat healthy, and I try to stay positive. But even still I turn towards the TV and neglect house work or personal goals for myself. It drives me crazy. I guess that's why it is hard to find change in your life at times. It is so hard to give up that drug and do what you truly need to do.

I am list girl. I love to make lists. I run out of paper so quickly it is ridiculous! So if you ever want to give me a gift give me paper! I make to do lists. I make lists of dreams. I always seem to make them right before life gets tough. Once life gets tough I start to give up on those list. Nothing gets cross off. Not because I no longer want them but because that TV has all my extra attention. It is so sad really.

I do not have a solution. I have no answers. I am trying to get better and I guess this is the first step by writing this blog. You see I have been working on getting the right words out for 3 days and that has given me some time away from the computer. It has given me a piece of freedom. I just want to encourage you to notice and figure out your drug of choice. Be mindful of it and try to say no to it every once in a while. It feels so freeing.

Book Review: Beauty A Retelling of the Story of Beauty & the Beast

This is one of my all time favorite books. I have read this book maybe four or more times. This last time I read it in less than three days thanks to my new glasses. I cannot tell you how excited I am at my new reading ability. I have not finished a book in over a year I hate to say. So I decided with my new talent I wanted to start doing book reviews of all the adventures I take. I love reading and I feel like it is such a gift we have to be able to learn and go on adventures just by reading. Maybe I am old fashioned but I would rather curl up with a good book than binge watch Netflix any day.

Beauty A Retelling of the Story of Beauty & the Beast by Robin McKinley will capture the hearts of those who love Beauty and the Beast. It does not follow the typical Disney plot line. I love that about it though. I always loved the Disney version but felt it just was not believable and felt to much like a fairy tale. Robin make it real and tangible. Instead of being an only child Beauty has 2 sisters. Her mother passed away when she was a child. Her father is the owner of a ship company in the city. They are very wealthy and the typical city girls of that time. Beauty is different though she is plainer and loves to read. She was not into courting and looking for guys but into books and horses. The fathers ship company takes a turn for the worst and he is forced to sell and move his family to the country where living is affordable. That is how they end up on the edge of the Beasts forest.

They end up moving their with one of the daughters fiancé who got a blacksmith job in the town of Blue Hill. The girls and their father are forced into a new life of labor and poverty. You get to follow the details of their life in the new land. They learn that enchantments and magic are believed in this new place and are not something to laugh about. They are told never to enter the forest for it is not safe because of this magic. The father eventually hears word that he has one ship that returned in the city that needs him to attend to. The father travels back and takes care of it. He returns weeks later on a blizzard night to come home. He has a rose in his hand and give it to Beauty. She is so pleased and the father mentions to what a huge price that rose came at. He doesn't leak the story till morning. When he tells the family of the castle and how he was welcome and fed and taken care. Then he tells of the lovely gardens and how he took a rose for Beauty but then a terrible Beast appeared and told him he must bring one of his daughters back in return for his life. He has one month to return alone to his death or bring one of his daughters that would willingly give her freedom for his life.

Beauty volunteers and after arguing the family complies. They mystery and adventure that awaits Beauty is so what I had dreamed. It is not like the Disney version at all. She doesn't try and tame the Beast. Instead the Beast truly tries to win her love. It is so romantic because in a gentle way the Beast tries to woo and pursue her. He makes her feel safe over time. He loves her more than his own life it self. It is a true story of love. Not the falling in lust and fairy tale dreams love, but a love that lasts. A love that is so pure and so true it is not based on outward appearances but of genuine care and love.

I cannot tell you how many little girl moments I have when reading this book. I giggle and blush! A part of me has always wanted a love like that. I had always wanted that pure deep devotion. Not to mention I would have loved the castle. Yes please I want personal maids and a kitchen staff. This book is not sexual at all. It is clean with no cursing. It is not scary for you never hear about the details of the Beasts temper. It is an amazing love story. I highly recommend it. If you are anything like me you won't be able to put it down till you are too tired to read any more.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! You can pick it up a Amazon or I got my copy at a local Half Priced Books. I seriously hope you will give it a try. This book has brought me such joy over the years and has taught me to dream again.

15 Minute Mom DIY: Baby Toy

We are making a baby toy today!

I have created a new super easy and useful craft for you moms to do! You should be able to do this in under 15 minutes. I wanted to make something for my son. Nothing to hard because lets get real I don't have time for that right now. He loves this one toy that has ribbons on it and he LOVES to chew on them. Not to mention it is easy to hook to a cart with his rings; so it is a good traveling toy. I wanted to make my own version of this toy but better.

What do you need?

-Material

-Ribbon

-Thread

-Sewing Machine

-Pins

-Pencil

-Kitchen Bowl

-Stuffing

What do you need to do?

• First you need to set your bowl on your material and draw around it to make your pattern. Do this twice so you get 2 circles. Make the lines really dark you have to go over it a couple times. Then cut out the 2 circles.
• Next you want to cut your ribbons (I had 8) into  2 1/2 inch strips.
• You will want to put your 2 circles together pretty sides facing each other. Pinch the ribbon in half like in my picture. Insert the ribbon into the circle and pin it in place. I have no idea what words to use to describe what I did, but in my pictures below you can see what I did.
• Do that all the way around. I would do a green ribbon on one side and switch sides and add another green one opposite to it.
• Once all of your ribbons are pinned in place start sewing around the edges by one of the ribbons. Make sure to leave a whole between 2 ribbons when you are done to turn it right side out. I had to go reinforce where my ribbons were attached so I suggest going back over it and sewing on top of the ribbon a second time to make sure it is sturdy; remember this will be played with a lot.
• Now turn it inside out and fill it with stuffing. Once it is full, I got a needle and thread and hand stitched the opening shut. It is a lot prettier to close this with hand stitching. Then give to you favorite baby!

I hope you enjoyed this 15 Minute Mom DIY! Let me know what you think!

Bringing New Life Back Into my Hair

I have always been able to curl my hair and have beautiful ringlets for about 6 hours before they fall. I love curls. I could sleep in braids or rollers and my hair with look beautiful the next day or two. But then I got pregnant and had baby David. After that I wanted to feel beautiful again and bought new hair rollers and a new curling iron but it did not work! I literally curled my hair and it was flawless used hairspray, but 15 minutes later it was flat as a board. I bought one of the BEST curling irons you can buy on Amazon. I was lost and honestly felt like I was going to be ugly forever.

I am sure many of you have the same problem! I even googled it and found tons of people with the same problem yet no solutions. This killed me. I have never had a problem I couldn't find a solution for. I always search and search and search till I can fix something. That is just my nature and who I am. But if you know me you know I know nothing about hair. I survive in the hair world and I want to thrive. So I followed tons of YouTube Channels, I learned to curl my hair from a girl on Facebook. I became really good at doing hair for me; yet my hair still would not hold a curl.

I finally decided that maybe my hair was too long or too damaged. I had not cut my hair in about 16 months at the point. I know I know that is horrible. But like I said I am not the hair girl. Hair had always been easy for me. So I found myself a brand new stylist and she cut my hair and saved my life from doing this crazy short haircut! Praise God! But she also gave me 2 new products to use. She used them on me that day and I had volume and curls like I hadn't seen in years! I felt so amazing. Better than I even did in high school. So I have to share these two products with you!

The first one is to help your hair hold it's curl: Aquage Working Spray. You put it in before you start curling. Spray all over your head and let it sit a bit. This seriously works! Like I said my curls has started falling flat in about 15 minutes and not just falling down. I mean flat as a board. I was going to do a whole blog on the new rollers I bought and took the before pics and how to roll your hair pics. The next morning took them out and NOTHING. So this product has seriously changed the game for me! My curls stay!

The second product is for giving your hair volume: Joico Hair Shake. I have never had volume. Teasing my hair doesn't work it just creates a rats nest. But this product gave it about a 1/6 of an inch poof! I loved it. I felt like I could actually see my hair rise off my head. I loved feeling beautiful again. This product you spray in before you curl too. Great thing is it lasts all day you just have to keep messing with your hair to push it up again.

Well I hope this helps my fellow flat haired ladies! I want all of you to feel like the beautiful queen you want to be! This has helped me so much gain my confidence. Not to mention these are like the only chemical filled products I have in my bathroom. Let me know if you use these too!

Natural Deodorant that SAVED My Life

I am going to be 110% honest with you right now, I stink! I have a sweating problem and I have always smelt bad since probably fifth grade. It has been embarrassing and exhausting. I have tried ALL deodorants and all the clinical strength ones. I even started trying natural ones, nothing worked till I found the one. Now, I know everyone claims natural deodorants work but for those of us with BAD body odor nothing works. It got so bad my clothes only lasted a few months before they started stinking too.

I got to where if I switched deodorant brands all the time I could manage it but that was exhausting always trying to find a new one that worked. Then I learned about the aluminum in deodorants. They have found it in cancer cells and it is linked to breast cancer. Once I heard that I knew I had to go to natural. I mean it did not matter, I was going to stink anyways. I might as well prevent cancer and stink than have cancer and stink.

So a little bit about deodorant and cancer. It has never been proven that deodorant or antiperspirants cause cancer. But they have found traces of parabens and aluminum in breast tumor tissue. So it is a bit concerning. I want to be safe. I do not want cancer and if I find something that works to replace a questionable item I will do! Everything you put on your skin soaks in and has an effect on the body. That is why I try to be so very careful with the products I use.

Back on the topic of this amazing natural deodorant. My sister found it just as I was in the market for a new deodorant. I had been stinking for a few weeks and the 2 natural deodorants I was trying were not cutting it. She has started stinking with pregnancy and nothing worked so she tried this deodorant and it worked! Once my mom found out about it she immediately ordered it for me. If that doesn't show you how bad I naturally stink, I don't know what will.

In 2 days time my Amazon package arrived and I opened it up to my new Primal Pit Paste. It works! I apply it once a day if I stay indoors at home. I apply it again if I leave to house. I also apply it before I go outside or workout. If I do that I rarely stink anymore. I am so happy and thrilled. I am not terrified of lifting my arms up or scared to death that I will be judged for the way I smell. I smell good or at least not nasty. I highly recommend it. It is super inexpensive for natural deodorant.

I hope this helps you and I hope you give it a try. If you do let me know what you think!!!

20 Minute Craft Series: Cloth Book Marks

Today I created something! You know when you just feel like you aren't accomplishing anything! You know those days when you feel like all you are doing is trying to get your baby to go to sleep or keep up with the cleaning when the kids are messing it up. Well today was one of those days for me. It took me forever to get baby David to sleep for his nap. I started thinking about what I wanted to do because who knew how long I had. I knew I wanted to make something. I wanted something tangible to hold in my hands and know I had accomplished something, but I knew I didn't have a lot of time. So I decided to share it with you because I am sure a ton of you fellow moms just need something to make every once in a while to feel accomplished. So I am starting my 20 Minute Craft Series.

Today I decided to make cloth book marks. Mind you I have not sewn anything on a sewing machine in years but it was like riding a bike. Now I am not very good at explain and giving instructions but I promise I will get better.

What do you need:

• Sewing Machine or a needle
• Thread
• Long strips of cloth
• Sewing pins
• Iron
• Scissors

What to do:

First you need to cut out your strip of cloth. I cut mine 2 1/2 inches wide and just guessed on the length. It all depends on what size books you read. If it is for say a textbook it needs to be a lot longer than for a novel or self help book. Then you need to cut another piece the same length and lay them on top of each other.

Then you need to use the sewing pins and pin them together evenly like this. (Now would be a good time to heat up your iron)

Next you are going to sew along the edges but leave a one inch gap open. That way you can cut the left over strings and turn it inside out.

After that you need to take the hole that you left open and tuck the edges under so that it is nice and even. You will then sew it shut. I try and sew close to the edges so that it is less obvious. I also would try and use a discrete color that blends in but today I totally forgot. But that is all okay. Then take your bookmark to the iron and press it to make it flat and get rid of all the kinks. Next comes the fun part making it beautiful. Pick a color of thread that you would like to use for your design. I chose white and then dark blue in the bobbin so that it would pop. You can choose any stitch you like but down below is a picture of the settings I used. I made sure the foot was exactly on the edge of my fabric to get the stitch in the right place.

After you have gone around the whole book mark creating a boarder with your decorative stich and you cut off the extra string you are done! Here is what my 2 book marks look like. I hope you enjoyed this craft and want to try it out some time. If you do I would love to see your finish product be sure to post a picture of it below or tag me into the finish product on social media! I hope you have an amazing and crafty day.