Month: April 2019

  • How to have a happy home

    In your average home, mornings begin in one of two ways.

    Scenario 1 – beauty, smiling, cleaned, and food cooking like Martha Stewart just stopped by.

    Or Scenario 2- like someone else I know… not me. Groggy with toddlers crawling over you, either tapping your face and shoulder profusely as if they are checking to make sure you’re alive or showering your face with a million (stank breath) kisses.

    Again, not me. (In my best Gobber voice)

    This is what sets the tone of the day. If you’re the first mama though, rock on mama because this. is. the. life! & I know your days will go a lot smoother than the latter. BUT, if you’re the second mom, again, again, not meeee, then what the heck are we I mean- you – supposed to do?

    Here are a few things I work REAL HARD to do so I can maintain a happy home (& you can too)

    Express gratitude

    As best you can, always remind yourself & be on the lookout for ways you can be thankful.

    Woke up this morning- check

    The weather is beautiful- check

    No snarkiness between the kiddos in the first 20 minutes of the day- check

    Kids got dressed AND put on their shoes somewhat on time- check

    You get the point.

    And I know this may seem silly or even a bit useless/unworthy but I promise you these daily small small actions add up to be so much more. That coin jar may just have a penny now but if it had 10,000 pennies in 30 days from now? That’s something.

    Attitude

    In college, I had an advisor stress this- if there’s a circumstance you can’t change then change your attitude about it. I won’t tell you that you can’t change the conditions in your own home; however, there are times when we aren’t prepared or can’t change the things that are happening.

    And this is where attitude comes to play. Having a positive attitude also has the huge ability to make any sour situation do a 360.

    Follow scripture

    This is for those that follow Jesus. If that’s you, it’s simple. We have a book. A manual. THE book that can and will absolutely guide us through every situation in our lives.If you’re new to all of this (and/or haven’t read the bible in its entirety…no judgments, I haven’t either) and you don’t know where to start… here are some quick ideas:

    1. Web search. Seriously just type your question away into the search engine of your choice with the words ‘bible verse that support….’
    2. Quora, Reddit, or other apps/websites like these. Type your questions and check back later for peoples thoughts and responses
    3. Ask around (if you can) Some good places to start are church, friends that share your beliefs, etc
    4. Bible or a bible app. In the app, type in a focus word that is included in your question, and you’ll see all the verses that have this word ‘pop up.’ Or look in the front or back of your Bible, look for the index, resources, etc.

    Say yes more

    It’s sooo easy to see all.the.things. that need to get done and quickly give a well-justified NO to our littles.

    Like, no, I can not play hide and seek again for the 37th time. Or allow you to watch another episode of Dora the Explorer (its been 2 hours since the first) or jump on the bed while singing ‘no more monkeys jumping on the bed!’ (don’t you remember what happened the last time? #epicparentingfail)

    Instead, search for ways to say yes! I promise you this isn’t too difficult. It’s a matter of reframing your thoughts and words to match.

    Case in point:

    CHILD: May I have cereal for breakfast? (side note: I don’t buy cereal in my house for breakfast lol, and it’s rare when I allow them to eat it in the morning. I buy it for snack time. I meal prep and give them this instead)

    MOM: NO! (What the old mama Sheree would say) Yes, after you eat your breakfast 🙂 OR Yes, when you get home from school OR Yes, at ___ o’clock.

    CHILD: Continues away, content….no fights. #winninggggg

    Stop expecting praise or constant words of affirmation

    This comes off a bit harsh & I know it’s not what every momma really wants to hear. But, even if words of affirmation is your love language- fuhgeddaboudit.

    Remind yourself that this IS your job. You ARE required to do everything you’re doing. When you shift your mindset to this, it gets a lot easier, and praises become a bonus, not an expectation.

    Give your home a fresh start, new look, etc

    An easy way to do this is by rearranging the furniture. (Those with OCD don’t need to have all the fun. Lol) P.s. It’s totally acceptable for me to say that by the way because I struggle with this.

    Swap out your decor to match the current season.

    Keep 2-3 sets of curtains and change them a couple of times a year. It’s incredible the difference light / dark curtains can have in a home!

    Create a tradition

    Go simple and easy here. It doesn’t need to be extravagant. Something as simple as ‘game night’ every week (you pick the day) is something!

    Consider having themed meal nights. Every Friday could be pizza night, Saturday Salads, Sunday Stew/Soup, Monday Meatballs, Tuesday Tacos, Wednesday Waffles…okay I done. LOL (I just realllly freaking love food!)

    A ‘tradition’ could also be a habit. Think about mornings, afternoons & evenings…what’s something you could do as a family during an allocated time of the day? (Think prayer/meditation/exercise/journaling/reading etc)

    Be on the same page

    There’s nothing quite as frustrating as an argument between your spouse because your views lie on different ends of the spectrum.

    Create a writing space

    In a perfect world, everyone would agree or be able to communicate effectively in the midst of arguments. Because this isn’t the case, an effective way to combat this is to have a safe writing space. A place where parents and children can write or draw their emotions, their point of views, whatever’s on their mind. After that, everyone can get together to talk about what’s been written (or drawn).

    Share hobbies and interests

    Obviously, we’re all not going to enjoy the same things at the same level. However, it doesn’t mean we can’t put our best foot forward to engage in what’s important to our family members.

    Don’t compare!

    One of these days I’m gonna have to write an article on comparison. But for now if you take nothing away from this…remember this:

    Never never ever ever ever compare your spouse, your child, your family, or your life to other families. Just stop. Just don’t.YOU, your family, your circumstances, your lives, are unique and special & should be celebrated and never compared!

    Pray (or meditate) more

    When we operate from a place of peace… from a place of love…it goes beyond all understanding. We’re able to pour goodness into the world. Sprinkle kindness into our relationships and give dashes of beauty here and there.

    You are absolutely capable of overfilling yourself with happiness.

    happy family laughing

  • 5 Ways to Easily Find a New Church After Moving

    5 Ways to Easily Find a New Church After Moving

    Moving to a city can be just as much scary as exciting.

    You feel alienated if there’s no family or friends within a few hundred miles. Not to mention all the challenges you’ll face.

    Like finding a suitable home, transportation, schooling options, language barriers, just to name a few.

    But if you believe in Jesus then, finding a community of fellow believers where you feel welcome and at home can prove to be a difficult task depending on where you are in the world.

    But it doesn’t have to be a burden, and I’ll share some ways our family has coped with moving so frequently and still finding ways to feed our faith.

    For some reason, everyone treats churches like a buffet (I’m not judging. Totally understand. It’s just a strange phenomenon I’m sorta trying to wrap my head around).

    We go and pick at what we like and don’t. And if it doesn’t suit us, we keep searching until we find another and another. I guess I wish it were easier.

    Nevertheless, here are some tips in finding your new home:

    5 Ways to Easily Find a New Church After Moving 2

    Look Up the Sermons Online

    Many churches offer their sermons broadcasted online. This gives you a chance to watch the pastor and any speakers and get a feel for the church without having to waste physical time and energy in going week after week.

    Read Through Their Website

    Almost every church will have a website where you can reference their doctrines and beliefs. They’ll also be list activities that the church provides & any ministries that they are apart of. You’ll also most likely get a chance to see photos of the actual church building.

    Now, these strategies may not actually apply to all churches. I’ve found several cities within Europe where there was no website to reference… in which you’ll need to use social media to find the church and find out more about it.

    Get Recommendations

    This one is a simple as it sounds. Ask around. This is simple enough if you’re relocating for work or with family or friends. However, is you’re moving alone or with your immediate family with no resources in the new city then, you will literally have to step out of your comfort zone and ask around ask people you meet in the market, people you see in the street and store. Don’t shy away from making conversation. Children are great ice breakers, and this may be easier if you do have small children that you’re able to take to park to school or then you can meet other families.

    Seek Out Directories

    Remember those big yellow information books that are always placed in front of your building or home on your local community? Well, now we finally have a use for them besides laying them down as a table stand or paperweight! Go ahead and look up your local churches.(I’ve found them in every country & city so far)

    Now say you’re in a new town or city you’re not familiar with almost every city has an online directory that you can find. Try typing the name of the city+state+province+country and directory into the search engine of your choice.

    If this feels you do the same as above, take this information into social media. So for example, if you wanted to look on Instagram, you will open up the Instagram app and type in the name of the city you’re in and church and see what search results pop up.

    Rinse and repeat for Facebook Twitter Pinterest and any other social platform you can think of.

    Take Advantage of Sundays (&weekdays)

    If all else fails, you can just do it the good ol’ fashion way and go to church on Sunday. You could simply walk around and just be a true tourist in the city that you’re moving into until you walk around and find a church.

    To make the most of your Sundays, you could see if churches have different service times and plan your day around attending the different churches at different hours of the day on Sunday.

    Many churches also have midweek services that you can attend and take advantage of those if Sundays aren’t a good time.

    If you go to church-how, do you find your new “home”?

    5 Ways to Easily Find a New Church After Moving 3
    5 Ways to Easily Find a New Church After Moving 4
    5 Ways to Easily Find a New Church After Moving 5

  • Treat varicose veins naturally

    Are you dealing with leg pain? Marks on legs that resemble bruises? Or those horrible bulging veins?

    (Yea, varicose veins)

    You’re not alone. Years ago, I had them too. I was on my 3rd pregnancy and during the 2nd trimester, my legs slowly became consumed with these “bruises”. Spider veins were everywhere, I felt so embarrassed. As if that weren’t enough, the veins started bulging at a rapid pace and I was disgusted. Disgusted to bathe myself because I could constantly feel them Disgusted with how I looked and completely overwhelmed with the immense physical pain these veins were bringing. I can remember so vividly feeling all of these symptoms at one point or another…many every day…

    • • Excruciating pain
    • • Trouble walking
    • • Painful/sore to the touch
    • • Felt warm
    • • Seemed to be progressing more and more
    • • Budging/raised/swollen
    • • Aggravated pain when I lift or push things like toddler and stroller or shopping cart
    • • When lying on back- felt like I couldn’t breathe
    • • Cramps, spasms, aching, throbbing, stinging pain in legs
    • • Pelvic and vulva area bulging

    Trust me when I say, You are NOT alone & I KNOW your pain. I know it is an extremely difficult thing to bear. I know it feels so painful. But you CAN and you WILL push through this. I know you’ve heard enough doctors tell you that they will decrease or fade completely after birth, but right now, it just isn’t cutting it. I get it. But here is the truth-every woman’s body is different, however, for the most part, they will indeed disappear… But what’s a mama to do with the pain she’s feeling now? Would you consider prayer and/ or natural resources? (or just the latter if you’re not open to prayer?)

    ***I’m not a doctor. (I only play one on myself & sometimes my family. Welcome to motherhood!) Consult YOUR physician. Just sharing my own experiences. Ok Sorry, #endoflegal***

    I remember researching all the natural alternatives I could find for this condition and the intense pain and wondering if it was all a hoax. Did natural mean less effective? Would it even work or was it placebo? (Side note: At this point, I would have even taken placebo if it meant relief!) You see, it was difficult at the time for me because I needed to follow a budget and taking a chance on something like this was risky. Not to mention, the nervousness I felt about taking these with no medical consultation because my doctors didn’t support natural alternatives. Yay for pharmaceuticals. Not [insert sarcastic disappointed angry face]. Now, I’m no doctor and I write this as encouragement for you, to share my personal experience that worked for me. I opted to use essential oils and a cream that was actually given to someone I know for their muscles. This is what I used and found to be really effective in both reducing pains in my legs and reducing the actual size of the veins. I also found that the veins didn’t progress as quickly while using these oils.

    • Helichrysum
    • Cypress
    • Geranium
    • Lemon

    Because I was dealing with such intense pain, I opted to only slightly dilute these oils into virgin coconut oil. Each and every day, immediately after having a cool/warm shower [hot water worsens the veins]

    I would:

    1. Use a dry brush to improve the circulation in my legs [brush upwards to the heart]
    2. Place a quarter size of coconut oil in the palm of my hand, then mix several drops of essential oil
    3. Let dry Because of the research I found, I chose to variate the use of each oil. I would use one for a few days then switch to another as this is stated to be more effective. (As I update this post & fish through some 5,738 bookmarks & tabs LOL- I will provide the links to the studies/journals/articles & websites I used to create this strategy) After consulting your doctor: Feel free to try and experiment to see what works for you. I also found it extremely helpful to: 1. Not sit with my legs crossed
    2. Elevate my legs whenever possible
    3. Stay hydrated & eat [healthy] anti-inflammatory foods And all of these essential oils are deemed safe for pregnancy.

    ***Note that these statements are not regulated by the FDA and I am NOT a medical professional. These are simply my experiences & results***

    Have you dealt with spider veins or varicose veins?

    Have you tried any natural remedies?

    varicose vein healing