My Love Story + 5 Tips to Maintain a Close Connection to Your Spouse

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #KYALittleTouch #CollectiveBias

Love Story Stay Connected

This is my love story. Please read on to see how K-Y® TOUCH® enhances our relationship and click here for the $2 off one K-Y® product coupon.

What’s your love story?  My husband and I have a very unique story of how we met, fell in love, and eventually got married.  I originally met him in 2003.  We were co-workers.  I was 20, and he was 27.  There was an immediate connection between us from the moment I saw him;  I’d definitely call it love at first sight.  It wasn’t long before we started dating.  Over the next couple of years, we had a lot of fun; there were some talks of marriage, and I was certainly thrilled at the prospects of being a stepmom to little Noah.  But the marriage just wasn’t meant to be, at least not at that time. [Read more…]

Protecting Your Lips with ChapStick® and a Giveaway

Disclosure: The ChapStick® product, information and gift have been provided by Pfizer Consumer Healthcare.

Winter weather is finally here, and it often takes a toll on us!  For example, you may have noticed that I have not posted since Friday! This is because I’ve been battling a terrible cold and cough.  This combined with terrible migraines made it a rough few days for me!  The winter weather can also be quite rough on our skin and our lips.  One way to ensure your lips are always protected is by using  ChapStick®.

Protecting Your Lips with Chapstick

Anytime you have a migraine or a cold it’s very easy to get dehydrated, and one clear indication that you may be dehydrated is by looking at your lips.  If they are dry, chapped, and cracking, then you should definitely drink some water. [Read more…]

Friday Favorites – Week 303 – with DIY Projects

Welcome to another Friday Favorites party!  With a new year comes the opportunity to set new goals.  On my list of goals, I have a lot of DIY projects and purchases I want to make for my home.

And I think a lot of other homemakers have similar goals and aspirations.  For this week’s features, I’ve got some great DIY projects from our friends.  I think they will serve as a great inspiration to you! [Read more…]

Broccoli Salad and Taking Time for Lunch with LEAN CUISINE® Marketplace Collection

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #BalancedNewYear #CollectiveBias

Taking Time for Lunch

The other day I talked about the importance of scheduling and planning your day.  For those of you who missed it, here’s a quick recap.  I emphasized the importance of setting daily goals and dividing those up in to a set of morning goals and a set of afternoon goals with a lunch in between.  By setting your day up in this manner, you’ll be able to focus on a short list of immediate goals, which means you’ll be less likely to get overwhelmed by everything you need to do.  You’ll also feel a great sense of accomplishment once that morning list of goals is complete, and dividing your day up ensures that you schedule yourself a much-needed lunch time!

Whether you’re a stay-at-home mom, a mom working from home, or a mom working outside the home, lunch is a key part of the day!  And yet, so many people skip it! (Often this includes myself, but I’m working to change that!) [Read more…]

Get Free Samples Today – Here’s How

Sample Box

Have you signed up for  PINCHme yet?  It is a site that offers great freebies to its members. Each month you are given a chance to select a few freebies from a provided list.  A couple of weeks later, your sample box arrives in the mail with the samples you selected and some extras! [Read more…]

Easy and Affordable Room Decorating Ideas 

home decor

Nothing makes a home feel more boring and drab than the same decor year after year. As the seasons change and styles come and go, your home or rooms may start to look dated or unappealing. If you’re tired of looking at the same living space day in and day out, liven it up with new and exciting home decor pieces.

If a full remodel isn’t in your budget, adding in fun and quirky pieces can change the look and feel of any room without breaking the bank. Whether you’re shopping for accent furniture or new paintings or bedroom sets, take a look at some easy and affordable room decorating ideas.

1. Shop for Accent Furniture Pieces

A brand new living room suit or bedroom set isn’t always affordable or budget friendly; however, adding in accent furniture pieces can revamp your old or used sofas, beds, or storage furniture. When looking for the perfect accent furniture, think about quality over quantity. An accent piece can be moved from room to room or be used in numerous home decor themes.

For a subtle look, a simple storage bench can add additional space and seating in your home while still changing the look of your room. If you love more quirky styles, a patterned or colorful armchair or accent chair can create a fun and exciting ambiance in your living space. For more affordable pieces, look for stores offering financing or credit options to get discounts on new purchases.

2. Customize Canvas Prints

Creating a new looking in your room can be as easy as hanging wall art. If your home has bare walls or simple decor, adding canvas prints can completely change the look and feel of the room. For seating areas or living spaces, adding canvas prints of your personal photos can take the place of outdated frames.

Similarly, if you prefer creating art yourself, canvases are affordable and easy to obtain to create your own artwork for your bedroom or bathroom walls. For families, letting your children color, paint, or decorate their own canvases can add unique touches to family rooms, playrooms, or office spaces.

Home Accents

3. Create an Oddities Shelf

Storage units are perfect for adding extra space in small rooms or apartments. If you’re struggling to find somewhere to put everything, don’t leave your room cluttered. Investing in a storage shelf not only gives you space for baskets to place your extra belongings, but also allows you more room for unique oddities.

Look at your local home decor stores or discounts stores for fun pieces to place on your shelving. Initial letters, what-nots, framed pictures, and small decorative figurines are perfect for adding character to your room while still keeping your furniture pieces functional and organized.

4. Install New Lighting

From side table lamps to overhead chandeliers, changing the lighting in your home can not only create a new ambiance and look for your old pieces, but it can add additional color and character to any room. Look for lamps and jar lighting that adds additional color into your home.

From patterned pieces to bright and eye-catching looks, installing new lighting can make your room pop. If your home has more subdued or monotone coloring, installing overhead lighting with more intricate details can bring the focal point away from older pieces without overshadowing your already styled decor.  You can take a look at Neon Mama for fun neon lighting in your room.

Bedroom

5. Create an Accent Wall

When you’re in a pinch and want to make over the look of any room, creating an accent wall is the perfect way to change up your home decor. Choose a complimentary color that not only matches your room décor but also adds in an extra touch of color or style. For drab monocolored rooms, a beautiful deep blue or green can take an ordinary space and make it look brand new.

Choose a bright or cheerful color for workspaces and a serene light blue for baths. If painting isn’t an option, add a fabric or create a picture collage to bring a new look to your space. Opt for colorful frames or paintings to show a piece of personality while still keeping your space free from clutter.

Easy Game Night Meal with Sam’s Club and a FREE Football I Spy Printable

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #FamilyPizzaCombo #CollectiveBias
Sams Pizza Family Deal

It’s been a very interesting football season this year, and we still have a few more BIG games to go! If you follow my blog regularly, you know that we can’t have football without great food!  (Can anyone?)

Recently my husband and I were shopping at Sam’s Club when I discovered the perfect game night meal:  the Sam’s Club Coca-Cola Family Pizza Combo! [Read more…]

Save Green By Going Green

Are you making any home improvements this year? I have a number of projects tentatively planned, such as updates in our bathroom and kitchen.

We also have some plans to go green in certain areas. We’ve already swapped some of our light fixtures to LEDs, and I’m hoping to update a few key appliances to energy-saving units.

The infographic below details how you can Save Green by Going Green.  You’ll find 4 key things, and you’ll find out how and why these things are good for the environment and your pocket-book!

Cost-Effective-Green-Efforts-For-Your-Home
This infographic comes to you from Avant.com.

Planning Your Days with Progresso Light Soups and a Giveaway

Disclosure ProgressoProgresso Light Soups

A few days ago I talked about some of my goals for 2016, and part of those goals centered around the word focus, as in focusing on the tasks I have to do each day and staying on track.  The best way to do this is to be organized and to plan out your days.  As with most things, there’s no one-size-fits-all way to plan your day.  A lot of people thrive on order and having each hour of the day mapped out on their planner, and a lot of people have jobs that actually depend on a schedule like this, but if you work from home, or if you’re a homeschool mom, this type of scheduling may not work for you.  That is why I am trying more of a Goal Based Schedule. [Read more…]

Friday Favorites – Week 302 – Organizing in the New Year

Hi ladies! Happy Friday! Thanks so much for stopping by today to party with us.  For today’s party I will be showcasing a few organizing ideas and printables!  And if you really love organizing with printables, I shared  a post last week featuring several printable blog planners, which I think you will find helpful in the new year.  So be sure to go over and check that out!

Also, you may have noticed that I’ve made a few little changes here at my site.  I have a new banner, and I’ve also tweaked the colors and couple of other key design elements and pages.  Another thing that I’m working on this week is changing over my email newsletter list.  Starting next week, my RSS email and other future mail outs will be sent via Mail Chimp.  I’m very excited about swapping over to the service, and I believe it will allow me to send out a better newsletter to subscribers and also offer exclusive content and freebies.

As part of the transition, I’ve been advised to have all of my current subscribers “re-subscribe” or “re-confirm” their subscription.  So if you are currently subscribed via Feedburner or Feedblitz,  I need for you to subscribe again to my blog. You can do so, by visiting this subscription page.  And if you are not yet subscribed to my newsletter, I invite you to subscribe today!  I have a lot of great things planned for the blog this year, and I hope to bring some great extras to my subscribers!

Now without further ado, let’s get on with the party!

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