Happy Halloween!

I did it! I successfully blogged every day in October.  That feels really good! Today I'm sharing our kids' costumes.  Joe and I did not attend any parties or dress up, but we will enjoy taking the kiddos out and about tonight. I can officially say that we have DONE Halloween all month long.  

Donuts.

Pumpkin patches.

Cider.

Scarecrows.

Corn.

Haunted.
Spooky.
Crafts.

Carving.

Painting.

Pumpkin everything!!

Thanks to a snap chat filter I can "appear" dressed up.

I love this shirt with some Stella!

Remember to treat yo self!

Have a Happy and safe Halloween! 

Bring on the Turkey!!

Tutorial: How to Remove Scentsy Quickly and Easily

Day 29---SO CLOSE to being done with my blogtober!  Things are caarrraaazy around here but I couldn't skip a day!

I had no clue what to do a tutorial of, and yesterday one of my friends was wondering how to remove her scensty wax...I figured I'd share my fool proof way of not making a mess.

Maybe it will help someone else too.

PS my fabulous friend Amie just started up her scentsy biz. Love this cozy chai---seriously smells SO amazing.  Grab your scentsy here!

http://sunshineandsea.scentsy.us/

Happy Halloween Weekend!

Tips for a New Blogger

I am by no means a blogging pro.  I don't earn an income off of blogging and I don't follow a set schedule.  I have been blogging since 2011 and still blog, so I guess I have some ideas to offer!

1. Figure out your why.  Why do you want to blog in the first place?  For me, it's about clearing my mind, sharing my heart and possibly helping others. I love to document our family experiences, life happenings and what I love.  I also fill that creative writing need that I feel frequently and I enjoy it.  If I ever feel that it's not fun, I'm sure I'll stop.  I've certainly changed what I share throughout the years, but that's only fair since I was a newlywed, no kids and staying home by myself...now I juggle so much more!

2.  Have confidence.  No matter what your purpose is for blogging, just be confident in that and go with it! Don't sit around second guessing yourself; just start typing, add a few photos and voila.  Putting something out there on this web is a little frightening; if you worry about what others will think you'll never have anything to share.  If you feel like you've got something to say, then it's important to say it! You never know who you could be helping by sharing your thoughts online.

3.  Connect with others.  The best part of blogging was the relationships I made when I first started.  I met other wives who stayed home and then became pregnant, now our children are growing up and it's so cool to see that! I have to say that blogging has certainly changed throughout the years, partially I think because social media blew up.  Now you can snap chat, instagram and facebook your day away and don't really need to blog. I still love my little blog, so that's why I still come here.

4.  Consistently post.  Whether it's daily, weekly,  Tuesday and Thursdays, whatever, you really should have a bit of a routine. I feel that when I don't post regularly, I don't have people coming back say hello!  I know life gets busy, but if you don't stick to something, you'll feel guilty and probably give up.  If you happen to post more than what you original thought, awesome!

5.  Be you. Part of me wants to say, don't even worry about what others think.  Everyone has a tip or suggestion these days; I kind of feel overwhelmed in ways.  Blogging is no different.  If you're looking to monetize your blog, it will take a lot of time and effort--more than I currently have to give! But I know it's possibly.  Your blog is your space and you should always have fun.  Don't get caught up with what everyone is doing, and focus on yourself.

Do you want to start blogging? What would you say?

What's in my Bag?

What do you carry in your bag?

Recipe Share: Matcha Latte

I thought I'd share a drink recipe today!  Since I kicked my Coffee (and Spark) habit, stupid reflux, I still craved something in the morning a little more than just a cup of plain old green tea.  I knew matcha was powerful, but I didn't know how amazing.  Check this out!

 I kept hearing about "Green Tea Lattes" and finally tried one at Starbucks---wow! Total game changer. Now of course, I've gotten some flack because it's got quite a bit of sugar in it, and the powder they use is not like anything I have found in the store (or Amazon)  But I really watch what I eat (typically) and try really hard to limit sugary items.  I found myself venturing out for these almost daily, so my wallet and health needed an intervention.  It's taking me a few months to figure out the best way to make these, but finally I found it!

Here is how I make my matcha lattes.

1.  I enjoy soy milk, and I prefer the reduced fat only because of the taste and consistency.  I've tried vanilla soy and that's okay too.  I've also invested in a milk warmer/frother---TOTALLY worth every penny.

2.  I bought this kind off of Amazon. Use 1/2 teaspoon.

3.  It's very clumpy so I mix it with a tiny bit of hot water to help smooth it out.

4.  This thing does all the work with one button--you can get it super frothy or just a little, I love that it has two options.

5. Pour and mix the green tea & water with the milk.

Here is what the warmer looks like. I am not a kitchen gadget person; I find that too many tools are a waste of space, but this is super easy to clean.

You'll get a little bit of film from the milk, (which I was getting waaaaay more from heating in the pan, and then the mess of boiled milk spilling over!! Oh, it was bad!!)  You just use the handy little brush and scrape it out.

I do it right after I use it and it looks brand new.

So again, here are some awesome perks of drinking this fabulous latte!  You could just make it with water, add a little honey, but I prefer it straight up with my soy.

I haven't tried any of these, but you could add it to your juicing recipes, smoothies or even bake with it!  I have read you don't want to take too much, as with anything.  I try to limit my use to once a day and sometimes I will just go for a chai instead.

If you follow me on instagram, you'll see these in my instastory quite often!  Even if you're a huge coffee drinker, you may surprise yourself and enjoy a cup of this.  I love how mellow I feel and truly get no crash or high off the caffeine.  It's a slow and steady awake feeling and I appreciate that.  I still stop at Starbucks now and then and definitely enjoy them at fancy coffee shops, but I am so happy to have found something to replace my coffee habit.  Sure I miss it and especially this time of year with all things pumpkin spice etc, but when you listen to your body, and find something that makes you feel better instead of worse, you listen to it.

Let me know if you've tried  Matcha! 

I'd love to hear your favorite recipes.