FEBRUARY Goals.

Happy February 2nd!! Can't believe we're already starting the month of February, but seriously. Time to review my goals from January and tell you about my new goals for this month. I realized that I made to many goals in January considering all that we had going on, and felt more overwhelmed about my goals.  

01// Dr. Oz Cleanse- I didn't end up doing this. I decided to do Whole30 this month and felt that a cleanse + Whole30 was a bit much for me so I nixed it!

02// New Workout plan- I'm now doing my HIIT workout plus running 2 days a week.

03// Start planning custom closet- We've made a plan, now it's time to build it.

04// Read 1 new book- I read For the Right Reasons by Sean Lowe. You can read my review here.

05// Start a 2015 Savings Plan- Done. You can read about it here.

06// Work on a house project- I didn't get to this at all this month. 

07// De clutter + Organize- Done. I cleaned out my office and tackled my kiddos rooms, and cleaned the closets & under sink cabinets. 

So heading into this month of February I've decided to tackle a small amount of purposeful goals. Here we go;

01// Whole30

I'm starting the Whole30 program this month. I've attempted it twice before and just not really prepared myself and then ended up quitting but I'm excited to prep right this time and tackle it for the month. 

02// Read 1 new book

This is one of my favorite goals, and I'm keeping it. This month I'm working on a few new books and trying to actually get through three of them. 

03// Work on a house project

This year we've decided to tackle our master bedroom. So this month we're working on the master bath. 

04// Plan a Date for My Husband

We haven't been on a date in a while, this month I want to take the time to plan a date for us. I've even got in mind a movie he's been dying to see. 

What are some of your goals for the month? I'd love to hear them in the comments below.

Sharing About Christmas in January, Why Not?!

Christmas has come and gone. It was a so nice to have our family in town to celebrate Christmas with us. My mom and step dad, my brother and his girlfriend, plus my Grandparents were all here for Christmas. 

We packed in as much as we could, but also had lots of fun shopping, hiking and lazy days at home with each other. 

We made Christmas cookies that were gone in just a few days. 

We celebrated Christmas eve with games + appetizers, just the way we like it.

Christmas Eve service with the family.

We had such a fun time with family. The world kinda shuts down for me when my family is in town. I take a break from the blog and social media and just try to enjoy as much time with them as I can. 

Christmas Day I sat around my dining table and not only was my table full, but my heart was too. So full to have all this family sitting around the table with each other. Clanking dishes, conversation and laughter filling my home. It was just the best. 

DIY Heart on Your Sleeve T-shirt

Valentine's Day is coming soon, and I love a fun festive holiday! I don't take it to seriously but I love making my kiddos some heart shaped pancakes and having a fun filled day with them. One Valentine's Day my hubby brought Ava home a heart shaped balloon, she was over the moon excited about this shiny heart ballon. Have a little fun and don't take it so serious! 

I saw this knit sweater months back that had knitted hearts on the elbows of this sweater. It was so adorable but a bit out of my budget. I decided I might be able to make something similar. 

Here's what you'll need for this project:

Long sleeve t-shirt (mine is from Target)

Red felt (JoAnn's)

Aleene's Fabric Fusion (JoAnn's)

Here's what you'll do:

Wash and dry your shirt before anything. Put your shirt on and mark off with a sharpie where your elbows are with an "X" (see image.) Then you'll take your shirt off and place a small piece of card stock in the arms of your shirt where you placed your X. You don't want the glue to seam together your elbows, and this prevents that from happening. 

Then you'll cut out your hearts. I used a heart cookie cutter to trace my heart. I wanted it to be a perfect heart shape, so I used the cookie cutter to make it. Then I cut it out and placed them over the elbows. Using the fabric fusion I glued down my hearts completely. Let them dry for a couple hours. Go back and check to make sure everything is glued down, if not add more glue where needed. 

Then you're ready to do with a perfectly adorable shirt with a little something extra! This shirt is perfect for my everyday jeans + tee style! 

Paired with my clutch from Ivey Expressions. I love this clutch so much, it holds a ton of stuff for a clutch. Has a cute wrist strap and tassel to make you feel extra fancy. And, all proceeds go towards their adoption, so you're shopping for a great cause. 

This is the perfect little DIY shirt, you could also switch it up for other holidays as well. Shamrocks anyone?!? 

Happy DIY shirt making peeps! 

shirt- DIY

jeans- Target

clutch- Ivey Expressions

Being Mindful of Money & Saving in 2015

We've always been pretty mindful of our money. We've learned some hard lessons about debt, getting out of it and saving. I'm pretty thrifty, I shop with coupons all the time, buy mostly stuff on sale and we save for big purchases. 

But, I know in 2015 we have some financial goals we want to meet. And in order to accomplish them we're going to have to be a little more mindful and strategic. Here's how I'm being a bit more mindful in 2015 with our money.

01// Having a Double or Nothing Savings Plan.

I'm sure you've seen those 52 week savings plan all around the internet. You know those one's where you save $1 the first week, $2 the next week, $3 the third week and so on till you're at $52 for the 52nd week in the year. And at the end of the year you've saved $1378 without even trying. This year I decided we've save double since we could in addition to what we're already saving. I'm using this worksheet to track it and just put away double the amount that it says on the worksheet instead. 

02// Buying only when things are on sale, clearance or I have a discount.

I mentioned above that I already do this a lot, but there are times when I don't always do this. Like those times when you walk into Target and think if I don't buy this now, they won't have it when I come back!?! Yeah, those are really just mind games I play with myself and really a lie from the enemy to get me to break my budget rules. The last six months of last year I started doing this philosophy, and you know what I learned? Everything goes on sale, always. Old Navy always has a sale, do not buy that clothing item till it goes on sale. Two, it's worth waiting for a sale or coupon. At least it is for me. So this year I committing to only buying items if they fit into one of those categories above, it'll also give me time to really think about if I need the item. 

03// Waiting till I run out of something before buying more.

This is specifically for toiletries and beauty products. I consider myself kinda a product junkie, I love trying new products but under my sink is beginning to look a little crazy outta hand. So this year I've committed to using every last drop of lotion, dry shampoo, hairspray whatever before buying more. 

04// Making sure there's a place & purpose for everything new thing we bring into our home, or we don't.

Last year I participated in White House Black Shutter's 40bagsin40 days challenge. And it was quite a learning experience after going through and purging our home, donating and getting rid of what we don't use or need. I regularly twice a year go through our home anyway, I also get rid of my kid's clothing or donate it as they grow out of it. But this challenge showed me even more that I need a purpose and a place for everything in our home, otherwise it's just clutter and a waste of money. Having this mind set is going to make me much more intentional about the things we purchase. 

These are just some of the ways we're trying to be more intentional this year with our money, I'd love to hear some of your own thoughts? What ways are you trying to save more or be more mindful this year? Share them in the comments below. 

COFFEE DATE// What's up this Weekend + How I like my Coffee.

Hi friends, Happy Friday! 

I'm excited to finally have a video for you today. I'm gonna get back into the swing of things with regular videos. Let's get to it;

Also I would tell you that today when I tried to accomplish my 20 minute work out, I was jumped on by a toddler. My kids were screaming, so there's that.

And when I ran to the bathroom Zane decided to sneak into the pantry and dump out two full bottles of spices onto the floor. Just in a matter of minutes. I got out of the bathroom to find the pantry floor covered in steak seasoning and Italian seasoning. I can't make this stuff up people.

This article about "the church" is just so, so good! 

This post about 'Owning Your Story' also so good and encouraging.