It's been a while since I've shared a day in the life video! We filmed this video a couple weeks back, one of our first days at home since Ava completed school and is out for the Summer. We're for sure spending our days lazy this summer with little to no agenda.
Couple things to note; I'm in my workout clothes much of this video, even after working out. I'm not wearing any makeup because that's how I roll on days at home.
What are your days looking like this summer?
Yay! Happy Friday friends! I'm finally back with a coffee date today! It's been a few weeks and I can't wait to share what we've been up to.
What are you up to this weekend? How was your week? Leave me your thoughts in the comments below, can't wait to hear what you've been up to.
Finishing up my second round of Whole30 in just a few short days. Today I thought I'd share some of my meals and what I've been eating. Below are the basic guidelines to follow.
Dairy and alcohol are the easiest for me since they aren't in my diet anyway. Before this round I'd been binging way to much on soda, especially when we'd be out to eat. This time around the sugar cravings have been fierce probably because I'd been eating so much lately. One of the reasons I love Whole30 is for the re set it gives your body. Getting rid of the sugar has been great.
Breakfast- usually eggs, bacon and black coffee. I don't mind making eggs each morning, I really love that I can eat bacon and eggs. I also make these egg muffins regularly ahead of time and keep them in the fridge.
Lunches- Are usually whatever is left over from the night before's dinner. But for a quick lunch I love to wrap some Applegate turkey in an avocado. So, so good! I pair that with fruit, you can see it in one of the images above.
Dinners- I basically pair a meat with lots and lots of veggies. We've been having steak and mixed veggies or squash. We've made Buffalo Chicken wraps, Beef Taco Soup, and Spaghetti with Zuchini Noodles.
Snacks- Mostly fruit, or these copy cat Lara Bars are my jam, I also love fruit with almond butter. La Croix is also a fave of mine for replacing soda. I drink them anyway but for Whole30 it's so nice!
A few of my other fave Whole30 approved eats are:
Paleo Taco Salad, Beef Taco Soup, Tuna Avocado Sandwiches
I'm also loving the Practical Paleo cookbook, and whole9life.com for more resources and recipe ideas.
As you know we recently moved into a new house a couple weeks ago. We've been talking about putting our home on the market for six months and finally decided that it was the right time for us this Spring. This is our third home we've bought together, we've learned a lot of things along with way when it comes to buying and selling a home. When we put our last home on the market it went under contract within 5 days!
We're not real estate experts but I'd thought I'd share a bit of our experience with you today, and the things we believe helped sell our home in such a short amount of time.
01// HIRE THE RIGHT TEAM
As I said before we're not real estate experts, so the first thing we did was meet with a knowledgeable real estate expert. We had a meeting and talked through comps and what the best listing price would be for our home. This is where it helps to have someone who knows the area and can list your house at the right price the first time to attract a buyer. We also loved that our real estate team was very helpful and always available to us when we needed them. They laid out a plan for us and let us know upfront everything we needed to know. We worked with the Drefs team here in Phoenix! If you're local in the Phoenix area I highly suggest giving them a call! You can visit their website here.
02// CLEAN UP & MAKE IT TIDY
I highly suggest having professional photos of your home taken, if you're real estate team doesn't do this time to hire The Drefs team or someone else who does! Since you're going to have photos taken of your home you want to make sure it's clean and well picked up for those photos and for all your showings. Nothing turns me off worse is when I walk into a home and it doesn't look like the photos online. Make your beds, keep the bathrooms clean, and clearing off excess clutter from counters will all make a big difference when buyers are coming through your home. With that in mind, keep your home looking it's best by keeping it clean for all your showings.
03// MAKE ANY NECESSARY REPAIRS
Is anything broken? Does anything need fixing that you just haven't gotten to yet? Make sure to fix and spruce up any of those things before putting your home on that market. Also if you have light fixtures that aren't staying with the home make sure you replace those with something else before putting it on the market. Buyers want to see the house they are getting not one that is going to have a million changes after they go under contract.
04// MAKE YOURSELF AVAILABLE FOR SHOWINGS
This might sound like a no brainer but showings can take there tole on you but they are a must if you want to get your home sold! We listed our home on a Friday and had showings all weekend long. We were practically out of our home for the entire day on Saturday, which can be sorta hard with children and pets to keep in mind. We kept it really positive and made an entire day out of it. We knew ahead of time that this would be the case and so we made the most of it and it paid off!
05// SET THE MOOD
Before showings 'set the mood' so to speak. Some of the ways you can do this, is to open the curtains let the light in so that when a potential buyer walks in they see a bright, open and airy space. Not something dark and cold. Play music and have a pleasing scent going through the home. Do NOT leave candles burning, we used an oil diffuser to have a nice scent going through the home while people walked through.
I can't say enough how implementing these ideas into our selling experience made all the difference! We sold our home within 5 days of it being on the market and got several offers above our asking price! Much of that success goes to hiring the right team like I said before, we had the best selling experience and I hope you do as well!
If you have any questions you can leave them in the comments below.
I know in your heart and mind you probably hate this day. You probably cringe when you see it creeping up on the calendar. Maybe you panic a little inside because you don't know how this day is going to make you feel year after year.
Maybe you cry a little inside when you see images of fathers and daughters all over your social media or hear that fluffy sermon at church that you feel that you just can't relate to.
Maybe you just forget this day is happening and just stay inside all day.
Maybe your father left when you were young.
Maybe your parents divorced and you haven't seen him in years.
Maybe he broke your trust.
Maybe he just plain wasn't there for you and your relationship has been strained for years.
Maybe he died and you miss him so much it hurts and this day is just a reminder he isn't with you.
I know you. I see you, because I've been there. I've felt all those emotions you're feeling. But, more than any of those feelings here's what I know;
I know there is a God that loves me and YOU! I know there is a God who cares about you so much he created you and knows every hair on your head. (Matt. 10:30)
I believe God's word when he says that He's a Father to the Fatherless. (Psalm 68:5)
I know this to be true in my own life.
I know that Jesus came and he died for you and for me to bring us hope beyond all this. To give us the ability to forgive in situations when we need to and bring complete healing when we need it.
You might be reading this and feel that all that I've said is nieve or silly. God has shown me over the years that this perspective is his protection and covering over me. God wants to offer us so much more than what the world wants to tell us about how this day can make us feel or should feel.
In God there is hope through Jesus.
For most of my life my birth father was not in my life. He was not a man I knew well, or trusted. He caused hurt, pain and confusion during seasons of my life. I came to know the Lord early on in my life and I know that it was the Lord's protection and provision that he gave me a Godly perspective to come back to time and time again when I felt lost, hurt and afraid.
That didn't always make life easy, that didn't mean those feelings magically went away but what it did give me what Hope.
Hope that I didn't have to be defined by my father's actions.
Hope that I didn't have to live a life of depression, or rejection.
Hope that I didn't have to feel sorry for myself.
Hope from bitterness and confusion.
Hope that I could celebrate others and be involved in life events and not feel bad that I didn't have the same as my friends, neighbors, co-workes, etc.
Hope that even though I did not have a biological father in my life, God gave me and blessed me with amazing step-father's, a great Grandfather to be a Godly example, awesome Uncles who loved me as their own.
God offered me his love.
So, when this day rolls around year after year I know that I am not Fatherless. I know that I have a God and Savior who loves me and cares for me so much that he died for me. (John 3:16)
I want to encourage you today to rest on that. To pray on that. If you don't already know that I invite you to call on his name and His Holy Spirit will meet your right where you are today.