Family, Finances, For the Love of Family

Showing Love and Appreciation for Valentine’s Day

February. The month we celebrate Valentine’s Day and the month we get to celcbrate love and show appreciation for the people in our lives. Admittedly, this is my favorite holiday. For me, it isn’t an overly assumptive romantic holiday, but a holiday to celebrate others by showing love and appreciation. Here are my top ideas for budget-friendly Valentine’s celebration: For your spouse or special friend: Cook their favorite dinner at home. Light some candles. Play favorite memory tunes. Write a love letter. Spray perfume on the envelope. Write a message on the mirror (use lipstick or dry-erase markers) Using kid-friendly […]

Family, Finances

The Beauty of Rhythm and Routine

  What if the rhythm of our life and routines created were all we needed to move forward towards our desired outcomes? Honestly, in my past, this would have been a boring proposition. After all, doesn’t a meaningful life include taking risks and being adventurous? Yet, life has taught me that my desired outcomes for this week, next month or in 2023 and beyond must be pursued with intentionality; and that intentionality includes my daily, weekly and monthly routines and/or habits which reflect the natural rhythms of life. Our world has natural rhythms: sunlight turns to dark which leads to […]

For the Love of Family, Raw Footage

The Art of Pause

Throughout my life I have always worked towards being productive and efficient; yet never able to reach my ideal of productivity and efficiency.  Nothing wrong with these strivings, unless my strivings caused unknown or unnecessary sacrifices. As I have grown older, reflected and sought wisdom from others, I have realized that practicing the art of pause is much needed, not just for me, but for everyone. P A U S E a temporary stop or rest in speech or action; a cessation of activity; a momentary hesitation Simply stated, pause is momentarily stopping. Simple, yet hard to implement. What do I […]

Family, Food, For the Love of Family

My Quick, Easy, Healthy Breakfast Ideas

Breakfast is important. It is important for overall health, brain power and focus. Beyond nourishing, including breakfast in your family’s morning routine offers many secondary benefits including: Beginning your day together as family Conversing with your family We do life together, encouraging each other for our day’s activities Study after study reveals the benefits of breakfast. Make breakfast work for you and your family. If you have a picture of an ideal setting – erase it. It may be messy, it may be somewhat chaotic, yet the benefits can and will outweigh your less than perfect.  In our family, we […]

Family, For the Love of Family

9 School Success Tips

It’s the second New Year of 2022; the beginning of the 2022-23 School Year. These tips will help you get off to a great start: Create a routine. After the a summer of less than routine days,  set up a new routine. Routines offer children security and expectations for their day, week and month. With your children, decide the following: what needs to be accomplished every morning before school? and after school? what does that look like? and how will make sure it gets done? Set expectations. If you have an expectation, state it. What is expected for grades? for […]

Finances

How Sinking Funds Help Control Your Money

A sinking fund is a strategic way to save money for a specific purchase by setting aside a little bit each month. I love sinking funds. Sinking funds give me a sense of security over and beyond my emergency fund. A sinking fund is a barrier to protect your emergency fund from known, yet sometimes unexpected (due to timing) expenses. For example, we know appliances and tires need to be replaced, yet need to be replaced at the most inconvenient time. Why inconvenient? Because we had not prepared and had other priorities. After you have created a steady habit of monthly […]