My Mobile Recap

This past weekend I headed out of town to my parents in South Alabama to help my Mom clean out her house! My parents have lived in the same house my entire life and are looking to build again on their beloved farm. 

Well, after my grandfather passed in April this year and having to clean out his house, my Mom and Dad decided they were going to lighten their load before they move again. Cleaning out my Poppy's house of 87 years of accumulating stuff was rough on them. 

I had told my Mom that I would come and help her clean out as her birthday present. I really enjoy throwing away and hate clutter so it was a win-win for both of us. The thing is, my parents don't really have clutter, just a large house with 38+ years of marriage, kids and grand kids memories. 

My Mom had already gone through a bunch of rooms and drawers by the time I came so what was left wasn't as much as I had thought- although the rooms left to clean out were the worst. 

We walked through the house, she told me what she had done and what would like to be finished. 

The easiest way to clean out is focusing on one room at a time. It gets overwhelming jumping from one place to the next. We also started from the top of the room and worked our way down - from book shelves to what was on the floor. 

I think all in all it was a successful clean out and my Mom was happy with the result. 

What was your weekend like? 

Home decoration

I get antsy often with my house. I am truly thankful to have a beautiful home at 26 with everything I need and most of what I want. But I do get annoyed with it at times when I look around the house and its not what I imagine it being. 

I have so many ideas but to get it where I want it takes time, money and creativity. I see ideas on Pinterest that I love and have the worst time recreating it.

One day though, it will be like I imagine it looking. Until then, I guess I will stick to daydreaming about the rooms below:

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Clean Living | The Honest Company

When I started searching for Clean Living household products I had some difficulty. I was finding products, but some I wasn't so crazy about- they either smelled great and didn't clean well or made me want to gag. 

Finally, I stumbled upon The Honest Company from a Sponsored Ad on Facebook (of all places). I clicked on their link and fell in love. 

The company was started by Jessica Alba who was looking for non toxic products for her daughters. Having trouble finding anything decent as well, she started her own line of safe, body, baby and bathroom products that are never health compromising chemicals and compounds.

I ordered a sample pack of their products and was elated!

I now have a subscription where I can bundle products I want and have them ship when I want and save money. Pretty sweet. Oh, and they also donate diapers from every ordered placed. Even better.

Some of my favorite products have been:

The Shampoo+body wash

Conditioner

Toilet cleaner

Multi-purpose cleaner

Body lotion

Laundry detergent ( not pictured, just finished and ordered new one)

I use these products every day in my home and feel great using them. They aren't loaded with risky chemicals that most companies don't think twice about adding to our products. 

Give them a try and see what you think. 

Last week chaos & dogs

Last week I was again MIA from blogland but not because I just wanted a break like two weeks ago. No, last week Stephen and I house and dog sat for a family while they were on vacation. We were back and forth between their house and ours and I was slammed with babysitting jobs as well. I'm not used to taking care of animals normally and these pooches needed lots and LOTS of attention. They were diva dogs.

At one point during the week, one of the dogs escaped while we were gone to bible study and I flipped my lid.  We searched the streets calling for him, checking the fenced in back yard where he had been, knocked on neighbors doors, calling the animal shelters and vets near and still no sign of the dog. After an hour of calling for him, I heard a girl say she found a lost dog two hours ago. I ran to meet her and it was our dog. I was so relieved and swore right then and there I was not a animal person and I'm never owning a pet. 

I am glad I got a weekend at home to catch up on life, do laundry and grocery shopping. 

Not to mention I actually got to spend some time with my husband this weekend since I didn't get to much during our house-sitting week. 

Back to normal life. :)

Morning routines

Honestly, I really don't have a set  routine anymore. It went out the door the day I quit my full time job. On days like this, where I don't have babysitting or have to wake up early, I roll out of bed, walk to the kitchen, make breakfast and pack Stephen's lunch. 

Its my favorite kind of morning. There is no rush, no time I have to leave the house by. Its just me working in the kitchen readying for the day. Its quiet and peaceful. 

Stephen wanders out from the shower and we sit and enjoy our meal together. We chat about things we plan to do today, our dinner plans with our small group and other whatnot's. 

Its a simple morning "routine", but I am thankful for it each and every morning. 

Happy 237th birthday America!

Happy 4th of July friends! Today, we celebrate our nations independence and gracious give thanks to those men and women who have fought and died protecting our country's freedom.

Clean Living l Homemade whole wheat tortillas

Welcome back to my Clean Living series. Today, I have a treat for you! I hope you all try it out, because once you make the switch you will never want to go back!

A staple in our home since switching over to clean eating has been homemade whole wheat tortillas. They are easy to make, delicious and practically go with anything. Besides, they taste so so so so much better than anything you could buy at the store. 

 I use these for wraps, use as a chip for salsa and even as the bread in homemade pizzas. My hubs even likes it in his soup or with his eggs at breakfast. 

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 cup oil (I have used coconut, olive oil or avocado oil)

1 cup warm water

2 pinches of salt

Directions: 

Add all ingredients in a bowl expect warm water. 

Mix together well and gradually add water until the dough is smooth. 

Divide you dough into 10 pieces or if you use it to make pizza it will make 3 pizza crusts. 

Use a glass or rolling pin to flatten out. I have to add flour to my table and glass so the dough will not stick.

In a skillet, turn the heat to medium/high. 

Place you dough in pan and leave for 30 seconds. Turn over and do the same to other side. 

Eat and enjoy. These babies do not last long!

What's your favorite clean eating staple in your house?

Vacationing on a budget

How do I budget when on vacation? Great question self, how do YOU do this? Honestly, I am having some trouble with it.

 Looking back over the past year of marriage, Stephen and I had some pretty big trips. We went to Jamaica for our honeymoon, Maui for our one year anniversary and a couple of day trips here and there.

You see, for all these trips, I was employed full time except Maui, which we used my payout from my former jobs vacation days to pay for this. We haven't taken a vacation since I quit my job and I am trying to figure out how to even go about taking one without breaking the bank. I do pull an income, but almost all of the money I bring in besides tithe goes to our savings and emergency fund. We want to have a safe nest egg in case life hands us tons of lemons. So not dipping into the saving or giving up our financial goals is important. 

So how do I take Stephen on a much needed break from his work that's cost efficient and fun? My plan is to go this month to Savannah, GA (about 7 hours away from our home) and enjoy 3 days of  "us" time. If you're like me in this, here are 3 ways to manage to enjoy ourselves without trouble financial issues afterwards.

1. Staying in a hotel that's off the beaten path. 

For us, we don't plan on staying in the hotel room much, besides sleeping. We are spending most of our time exploring, so we don't need the most luxurious hotel in the hot spot of the city. We aren't going to stay in a scary, near abandoned unsafe area, but we don't need the most fantastic hotel ever. 

2. Shop at your local grocery store and pack meals to go. 

I know this is not the most exciting way to have fun, but it can save so much money besides eating out. Most hotel rooms have a mini fridge for cold foods. If not, by non refrigerated foods like bread, bananas and peanut butter for lunches. Simple is key here. Don't spend hours slaving in the kitchen.

3. Make a plan on what activities we want to do ahead of time. 

Making a "plan" can help cut down on costs. If there is a certain  tour we want to go on, we look up coupons before we leave home or cheaper times to go. We also research free things to do that still give us a great experience on vacation. 

 You can apply all three of these ways to save on any trip anywhere and feel good about being smart with your money. 

The week without social media

Last week, you might have noticed I didn't blog at all. I wasn't too busy or anything, I just wanted a short break from blogging/twitter/Facebook. I don't spend exuberant amounts of my time on social media but I do tend to be on these more than I should/want. I was allowing it to preoccupy more of my time than I desired, so I took an impromptu break and was so glad I did.
I have been cutting down on the amount I post from 5 days a week to 3 mainly for the reason above - to not be consumed with the online world and more present in my friends and family's  daily lives.

Please don't get me wrong, if it weren't for social media I wouldn't be able to talk to one of my best friends in England, or connect with some amazing women who I have met through blogging. But for me, right now, less really is more and I am loving my "free time".

Clean Living | Redmond Clay Earhtpaste {Review}

Ok people, its official, I love anything and everything from the Redmond Company. A couple weeks ago I discovered Earthpaste toothpaste and fell in love with it. Then it got even better when I found out there was a whole line of Redmond products! Redmond was sweet enough to send me a box of goodies to try out. 

Redmond is a company who is all about elevating the human experience. Their products are real - meaning they are from nature. From talking to their rep, they are all about wellness, keeping their products simple, clean and of course, real. 

The first two items I tried were the Earthpaste toothpaste. The flavors are fantastic and I definitely love their lemon flavor.  All of their ingredients are listed and safe to swallow. There is no foaming agents like SLS (sodium lauryl sulfate) or harsh chemicals like titanium dioxide that make the paste white. What you are left with in this toothpaste is all natural ingredients that support a healthy life. After a week of use, I will never go back to "normal" toothpaste again.  My mouth feels much cleaner than with regular toothpaste and I feel better about knowing if I swallow, I'm safe. This is a great product too for families with kids. I would feel good allowing my nieces and nephews using this because they aren't digesting anything that would be harmful to them. 

I tried out their real Sea Salt and was so happy with this product. Their salt is unrefined and full of natural minerals and flavor. Some salts you pick up and see that they have been heat processed and stripped of their natural trace minerals. 

I tried this salt against my normal salt and the flavors didn't even compare! This salt was amazing and so good!

Their seasoning was just as amazing as their real salt. It had rich flavors of garlic, onions and salt. I added it to baked chicken and it made the chicken my new favorite dish!

The Redmond Clay was excellent too. You can use the clay for external use and internal. Add a teaspoon of the clay to your juice or water for daily digestive cleaning or you can do what I did and add it with water to mosquito bites. I am constantly scratching my bug bites and anti -itch cream doesn't ever help. The clay helped sooth my bites and stopped me from scratching and irritating my bites. 

The Redmond Clay is also good for other minor ailment like cuts, bruises, sunburns and acme. 

The last item was the Redmond Clay Facial Mud. This mask was par none. Stephen even got in on the action of a mud facial. I left it on our faces until it hardened (about 30 minutes) and my face felt brand new after washing it off. I did have a slightly red face after, but the label said it was normal and I was fine after a few minutes. I am slightly addicted to this product and will be using it at least twice a week now. 

I loved everything from Redmond and highly recommend you trying out any and all these products. Check out their sites for more information on each product I reviewed. 

Real Salt
Redmond Clay 

Redmond Trading 

Thanks again Redmond for sharing your fabulous real products with me!

Dating other couples

Title sound weird? I'm sure it does, but for those of yall married people out there it might ring a bell. I talked last week on why its important to continue dating your spouse, but having other married couple dates can be just as difficult/awful as dating while single. 

When Stephen and I first married, most of our friends were still single. We were adjusting to a new life of married living while our friends were still hanging out all the time and able to do anything at a moments notice. Not so much the case when you get married. We also live far away, so being able to change plans isn't easy for us. Plus, being the only married couple at a hangout just feels wrong. 

We started searching  for other couple to "date" quickly. We found out that it is extremely difficult for couples to mesh well together.  If liked the wife, he didn't like the husband or vise versa. We also didn't want it to be uncomfortable for the husband of one couple to feel weird around the other couples wife. This weirdness is just awful and should be avoided at.all.cost.

We were blessed shortly thereafter with a small group of couples that were perfect for us. The dating stages for some of them lasted a little longer than others, but all in all we are great together. 

We lucked out this time around but we know that it isn't always easy to find good couple friends where both spouses get along with everyone.

I'm sure we will face the horror of having to date other new couples when a couple moves or babies enter the picture, but for now, I am so so so glad to be past the awkward dating stage with them. :)

Coffee & Conversation l What difference I have made in this world

Its MONDAY!!! YAY!! Most people don't cheer for Monday but honestly, this weekend was so hectic that I was longing for the week to begin. 

I am once again linking up with Lauren and Kalyn on their series Coffee & Conversation. 

This weeks question was very intriguing and it got me thinking a great deal. 

"What does it mean to you to have made a difference in this world? What are you doing to achieve that change, and how has it been made possible?"

Making a difference in the world. Feels like a loaded question to me, but a very good loaded question. Let me just dive in.

For me to make a difference in this world isn't JUST about going once to feed the homeless or leading a kids camp or donating items to the Salvation Army. These are all incredible things and greatly needed in this world, but for me to make a difference, I must share the good news of the gospel. All these other acts/works come out of knowing the Almighty and his outpouring of love on us to pour onto others. 

Matthew 28:19 " Therefore go and make disciples of  all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

I want to share Christ through my blog, through the relationships I have built in my community and for the prayers that surround those who are called out in the field. Pouring into others lives, investing in them and  sharing the gospel with them is the most important thing we can do. 

Knowing Christ compels me to do works for Him and my work should not be a reflection of me, but Him. 

My Father on his day

I'm daddy's little girl and I love that role. I have been incredibly blessed by the man whom I call Father and can't imagine my life without him.

He is a solid rock in my life. Never wavering, always speaking with a gentle spirit and encouraging his four children to be Christlike in all we do.

As you know, my Dad lost his father in April. I can't imagine the heart ache he has endured losing his last parent.

Today, I just want to say thank you Dad, for helping mold me into the woman I am today. For all the sacrifices you and Mom have made for us kids, for the unending love you give each of us, and for always encouraging me to be a Godly wife to my husband. I will always be your little angel.

Dating your husband

Stephen and I have been married a little over 15 months. I have no clue where the time went but they have been the best 15 months of my life. We have had ups and downs, challenges and triumphs and learned a whole heck of a lot. 

I have  found over this past year that dating my husband is critical for our marriage. I think it will become even more so once our family expands with children. A families foundation is a strong relationship with God and a strong relationship between a man and his wife. When a husband and wife stop dating, the marriage foundation can begin to decay and snowball fast. The Lord created marriage and seems to think its pretty important - so needless to say its probably a good idea to keep checking in for maintenance and dating your spouse.  

There are many ways to date your husband and keep it from getting routine or stale. 

First, life gets insanely busy. Between work, cooking, running errands here and there and life's normal routine, I can be swallowed by my mile long to-do list. Having a date night where we focus on just us and de-stress from life. It does take time, effort and planning, but its a great way to reconnect with my spouse and it lets us each know we are the others top priority. 

My husband still calls me up (usually when he is at work) and asks me out on a date. He lets me know the plan for our date - from letting me know the location, time and night of our date. 

On date nights, its important to get ready without him around me. He doesn't see me at all while I am getting cleaned up and dressed. I let him know when I am completely ready so he sees the finished and polished me, not the normal hair in ponytail, glasses on, no makeup me.  Lets be honest, my husband now sees me in running shorts most days because of my job and that can be a little unappealing.  Its important to me to look good for my husband and he always appreciates and takes notice of my more presentable self. 

Our typical date nights way back when were dinners out and an activity afterward. We recreate the same types of dates we had when we were dating. Its a great time for us to reconnect together and spend time talking and laughing over things. We also have a date night list on our frig of places to go out together. It doesn't always have to be a super creative date, but we do make time to go do something that is just the two of us and the list sometimes helps us have a jumping off place. 

Its also vitally important for us to put away the small distractions. No cell phones being checked, no social media occurring, no TV blaring in the background - just good old fashioned chatting. 

When we spend time quality time together, we learn more about each other. Who we were on our wedding day isn't necessarily the same us we are today. We change and evolve constantly - so a weekly date night is the perfect time to chat about whats going on in his life and him to hear mine. 

Since Stephen and I are still relatively newly weds, our romance hasn't wavered. But, I can imagine after 15 years of marriage, things could get a little stale. It doesn't always have to be grand gestures of a trip to the Maui or an expensive diamond necklace, but writing notes on the bathroom mirror and a back rub is priceless. 

We don't ever want to stop dating because we went on a couple of dates and we are doing fine. Or because too much is going on, we are stretched too thin with money or whatnot. Dates don't have to be fancy, expensive or elaborate - they just need to be. Married couples need this special time together and it should never stop dating each other. 

Clean Living l Household Products {Guest Post}

Hi everyone, I am Holly and I blog over at The Oklahoma Peppler's. I am so excited to be here today sharing some of my favorite clean living products with you. I was so excited when Clara asked me to host today. I have been slowly easing in to the idea of clean living (I wasn't as brave as Clara, just taking a huge leap into it, and I admire her so much for that) and had a million ideas in my head when Clara asked me to write something. But today, after much thought, I have decided to share some of my favorite products with you.

On my journey through clean living I found the hardest part has been finding products that I love. Friends and fellow bloggers have been great with suggestions and I have tried many new products. However, if there is one thing I don't like it is spending money on a product you think is going to be good only to find you hate it. I hope that today I can help you find at least one new product that is "clean" and you love!

Before I begin, I should say that none of these companies know who I am and all the below products that I use have been purchased by me.

|Lush|

If you haven't heard of Lush, you should certainly go check them out. They make all sorts of great lotions, bath, shower, and body products. One of the awesome things about Lush is that they are very open about what their products are made with. The label's on their bottles are clear, they can even tell you if something is vegan or not. The company also puts a little sticker on each product with a picture of who made it and on what date. So not only do you know that the product is fresh but you know that it was made by a person and not a machine. Right now my two favorite products are their dry shampoo called No Drought and  their Geo Phyzz bath bomb. The dry shampoo has a great smell but in full disclosure, it is a little messy. I recommend using it while still in your PJ's so you don't cover your clothes in white dust.

|JR Watkins|

I am loving JR Watkins hand soap right now. You could say my husband is a bit of a germaphobe. He washes his hands all of the time. He actually had been using hand sanitizer like crazy. I had to do something about it, his hands were getting dried out and I was spending a small fortune on hand sanitizer!

I stumbled across JR Watkins in the grocery store one day and will admit I first picked it up based on its packaging. When I got home I did a little research and the only ingredient that I suppose isn't very clean would be the sulfates. I will let you make your own call on this but I have yet to find a soap that my husband is okay with that doesn't have sulfates. If he doesn't see a lot of suds he doesn't feel like his hands are getting clean and he just resorts back to hand sanitizer.

In the end, JR Watkins hand soap has great scents and they use essential oils for that and I love it. The soap leaves your hands soft and clean as well so you can't really beat that.

|BPA Free Water Bottle|

My husband and I drink A LOT of water and tea. One of the best things I have found since starting our clean eating journey is that a BPA free water bottle is important. We personally like the Camelback brand any kind will do. I have heard a lot of terrible things about water bottles being left in the car on a hot summer day and all the chemicals that leach into your water. Plus this way we spend way less money on something that we can just be getting from our tap or refrigerator filter anyway! Not to mention they come in tons of colors and designs and you can even find ones that will keep your drink cold for up to 6 hours!

Why I don't do Ad Spaces & Sponsorship

I've been back and forth of selling ad spaces and sponsorship. I know a ton of blogs out there do this and really enjoy it. I definitely am not trying to persuade you one way or the other, or say that one is right or wrong - this is what I decided was best for me and my blog. 

Months ago, I made the decision that I would not purchase an ad space on anyone's blog. I had quit my job and didn't have as much disposable cash flow as I had previously, so paying $20.00 for one months ad space on a blog was out of the question.  Besides, most everyone's blogs I followed did free swaps, so that worked for me. 

At some point, I had lots of people encouraging me to add my own sponsorship page to help me grow my blog. I felt like to be a "real" blogger, I needed to do this. From the very first moment having the sponsorships and swaps, I disliked it. I felt guilty if I didn't have the time to invest in it and that if I took it off my blog wouldn't be desirable to read or follow. 

After a couple of weeks of contemplation and prayer, I took off the sponsorships and only left the free swap ads. I wasn't having much traffic with it and I was fine with free swaps since people didn't have to pay for it.

Then, just last week, I took swaps off completely too. 

I know many people love these spots and can handle them. Again, I don't mean to be stepping on any toes over this topic but ads on my own personal blog were not for me. I felt like it was taking away what my blog was about and I was getting caught up in a popularity contest. 

I also felt like it  was pulling me away from why I blogged in the first place. With my schedule how it is now, I am hardly ever by a computer and often on have a minute to sit down and my favorite blogs, much less maintaining something that was causing stress. 

I think swaps and sponsorships are great for people wanting to grow their blogs and get great exposure on larger blogger pages. For me though, I was getting caught up in the rat race, forgetting where I wanted to be.

I realize I will never have a massive blog following, or be a blogger everyone knows, but I am okay with that. My goal is to share Christ, my ups and downs of life and marriage and offer encouragement to you. I so appreciate all of my followers and you have given me great happiness. 

Coffee & Conversation l Meaning behind the blog title

Today, I am joining in and linking up with my two Alabama blogger friends Kayln and Lauren  for their Coffee & Conversation series. I loved the question they posed last week and I definitely wanted to answer it. 

What's the meaning behind your blog title and why? Do you believe you've upheld the meaning's purpose?

I chose the name Walking in the Light in 2009 when I first started blogging. I remember thinking it over for a long time, reading tons of scripture and came upon 1 John 1:5 "This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all."

My blog is to be a reflection of a person walking in Christ's love and mercy. As a follower of Christ, I wanted all of my actions and thoughts to reflect being a child of God. 

First, to "walk" is to live life. Its symbolizes progress and growing in maturity. 

"Light" in the bible can be a metaphor for a life of joy, righteousness and understanding  In James 1:17, it is clear that the light comes from the Lord. "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change."

I desire this blog to be a glimpse of a child of God who is growing in God's holiness and maturing in my faith as I follow Christ. Walking in the light is relinquishing sin by following Christ. 

I want to be like Christ in all that I do , whether I talk about going on  vacation, being a Godly wife, sharing my weekend adventures or cooking meals with you. I am a sinner and fail everyday. I often get sidetracked, but my title reminds me that I was created for one purpose - to give my life for Christ and make disciples of all nations. 

I want my very nature to be like Christ. I know that Jesus is the light in this world and I walk in that light by following His commandment's, living in His will and growing everyday in His grace. 

blueberries & weddings

Today I am heading home to my parents for one of my college roommates wedding! I love it when one of my friends gets married from college, because its a reunion for all of us to get together, dance and have a great time! 

The bride (pic from Sophomore year of college)

The Broun Girls (our groups nickname named after our dorm. Sophomore year of college). 

We were babies!

 My hubs is staying behind in Birmingham because he is photographing another friends wedding, BUT my good friend Kate is coming down with me to Mobile. I am so glad to  have someone to make the 4 hour trek down with me. :)

This weekend begins blueberry season too, so it wont be a completely relaxing weekend because we need to pick tons of them! Don't worry though, I will eat plenty whilst I pick and it wont make it so tedious. 

I am feeling rather exhausted too from the busy week  and I am still having trouble still with my pinched nerve on my right hand. Hopefully, it will be fine to do a lot of picking tomorrow. 

Have a lovely weekend!