October Favorites
Happy November! Hope everyone had a fun week celebrating Reformation (it's a Lutheran thing)/Halloween/All Saints Day/Día de los Muertos or any other celebration that I missed.
It's been a hot second since I've written any posts for the ol' blog. Baby Lewis hasn't been sleeping much, so I try to go to bed shortly after he falls asleep at night. This cuts down drastically on my work time, and nap times (when I can get the boys' naps to synch) are spent helping people get started on their nutritional rebalancing systems or working on freelance writing.
YOU MIGHT LIKE: START YOUR OWN HEALTH AND WELLNESS BUSINESS FROM HOME
But I've got a long list of things I'm excited to write about and share with you guys, so I'm diving back in to share my favorite things from the month of October. Instead of Friday Favorites now, I'll be writing one post at the end of the month sharing the best products, eats, family moments, podcasts, articles, etc. So here we go! October Favorites, coming atcha!
Food
Green Smoothies
I've been obsessed with this Tropical Green Smoothie I shared a few months ago. For some reason it's been a struggle to eat my vegetables lately, so I've been at the very least trying to drink them.
Mint Chocolate Chip Energy Bites
I can't remember the exact recipe I used, but I just whipped up a normal batch of energy balls with oats, cashew butter, honey, flaxseed, and chocolate chips. I made them mint chocolate by reducing some of the oats + flaxseed and adding mint chocolate superfood shake powder to boost the protein. You could achieve the same results by adding chocolate protein powder and a few drops of mint extract!
New Halo Top Flavors
I was thrilled to see our Target was carrying some new flavors of Halo Top this month! In a moment of serendipity they were 2 for $8, plus 25% off all ice cream at Target, plus a $2 coupon I had. I couldn't NOT buy them. I tried S'mores and Candy Bar. Both flavors were delicious, but I couldn't done without the nuts in the candy bar flavor.
Products
Baby Einstein Activity Jumper
All of our kids have absolutely loved hanging out in this jumper, and Lewis is no different! When he's not squirming around on the ground figuring out sitting, rolling, and army crawling, you can find him in his activity jumper trying to put everything in his mouth. I can't tell you how amazing it is to have a happy baby playing safely in his jumper while I get laundry or dishes or vacuuming done.
Hobby Lobby Clearance Pumpkins
I'm a classic under-buyer, and I don't often spend money on things like whimsical decor. Imagine my surprise when Pippa asked me if we could decorate for Halloween, and I found these adorable pumpkins I had purchased on clearance from Hobby Lobby last year, then squirreled away in storage and promptly forgotten. I love that this decor is chic and not too Halloween-y, so we can keep it up through Thanksgiving. I'll definitely have my eyes open for more clearance decor sales at the end of fall. This delicious smelling candle is from the impulse buy section of TJ Maxx - you know, the checkout lane with ALL THE BEST STUFF THAT YOU NEED RIGHT NOW.
Currently
Reading
- Baby-Led Weaning Cookbook
- The Five Love Languages
- The Lazy Genius Collective - her website is saving my life right now. So much common sense advice, and she's hilarious! Grab your coffee and go binge-read everything on her website.
- Don't miss my very first freelance writing articles for Travel Pulse here and here!
Listening To
- The Lazy Genius Podcast - short and sweet episodes with practical tips on how to simplify your life in a way that works for you!
- The Simple Show - Tsh Oxenreider's podcast. If you've ever read articles from her website The Art of Simple, you know you'll love this podcast. Travel, books, housekeeping, motherhood, and just living the simple life.
- This interview I did with my friend Gena. She's an introvert, pastor's wife, mom of four, and now she's building a home based business. I love this interview because I know so many women who would love to contribute to their family income while staying home with their kids, but don't want to bug their friends and family. Gena talks about how in their house, sharing Jesus and people's souls are the first priority, but that physical health also goes hand-in-hand with that. A must listen for any wannabe entrepreneurs who want to build a business with integrity and a soft touch.
Watching
- Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders - an 8 part mini series about the infamous Menendez brothers and their trial. It's been my go-to show while I feel Lewis before bed (those feeding sessions can sometimes last an hour or even two), and I can't stop watching. So good! I need the last 2 installments to come out! I've been watching it on Hulu. (If you don't have Hulu yet you can use the 2 weeks free trial to watch this series!)
October Memories
Justin's parents came to visit for a few days at the beginning of the month, and it was such a nice time! We had a tropical depression the weekend they were here, so most of our time was spent inside, but the kids loved playing games, doing crafts, and reading books with their grandparents. Justin and I loved sneaking away for a brunch and grocery shopping date!
Our school hosted a teacher's conference this month, so some friends from the Gulf Coast stayed with us for the weekend. Lewis and his girlfriend Mabel shared some bonding time, while my friend Rachel and I got to catch up. We took a day trip to St. Augustine, spent a day at the park, and made some mulled wine, which was on my fall bucket list. It was so nice to see them for a few days, and we can't wait for them to come back for Friendsgiving!
Our Halloween memories this year include a disastrous trip to the pumpkin patch, mummy hot dogs, and trick or treating. At the pumpkin patch, fire ants attacked Justin's foot, and his body had some sort of reaction in the form of hives, itching, and swelling. You can also see from Teddy's face in the first picture that he was not too pleased that he wasn't allowed to throw the mini pumpkins.
At Target Cartwheel's suggestion, we made mummy hot dogs, and it was such a simple, fun way to get into the Halloween spirit. I loved that the kids could help, too! Finally, trick or treating was almost thwarted by some sickness in the house, but the kids begged to go anyway, so we powered through. Pippa was a fairy princess, Teddy was a golfer, and Lewis was a Cheesehead Packers fan.
Looking Forward To...
- My essential oil starter kit arriving in the mail! I'm so sick of everyone in the house passing around the same cold and flu germs, and I've been wanting to use cleaning products without the chemicals anyway, so I decided it was time to take the plunge!
- My parents will be flying in partway through the month, and my mom and I will be taking the kids on a day trip to Savannah! If you have any recommendations for us in that area, I would love to hear them.
- Healthy Holiday Tribe! This was my favorite way to stay on track during the holidays last year, and I'm so excited that it's back! It's a group of motivated individuals looking to stay HEALTHY and FIT through the holidays!
You'll find Healthy Holiday cooking + baking recipes (even healthy COCKTAILS!), avoiding temptations and cravings, healthy holiday substitutions and snacks, stress relieving tips (since this can be a stressful time of year!), workouts you can do while on the road traveling to family and MORE!!!!!
This group is a free gift for those who get started with a nutritional rebalancing system. I'd love to chat with you to see if this would be a good fit for you to make progress toward your health goals during the most notoriously tough time of year (sugar! carbs! baked good! oh my!)
Simply fill out the form below to learn more:
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