Search Results for: better day

July 22, 2015 · in Inspiration

12 Steps To A Better Day

Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed today?

Are you feeling overwhelmed, inadequate, left out, frustrated, discouraged or unappreciated?

We all have those days or even months when we’re dealing with something upsetting or painful. Whether it be the loss of a loved one, frustration in your relationships, or even just getting your feelings hurt. Maybe it’s something someone said or did, or maybe something they DIDN’T say or do. Maybe you’re struggling with one of your children. What ever the cause may be, we have the ability to change how we feel. It’s just a matter of making the choice. MUCH easier said than done though right?

I’ve put together a list of 12 steps that might help ease your pain or at least get you on track to having a better day.

Repeat the following as long as needed and know that you WILL see better days.

“What we feed will grow. You have to quit feeding those wrong emotions.”

-Joel Osteen

Step 1

SAY A PRAYER!

Prayer should always be the first thing you do when you need help. God is there for us when ever we need him. All we have to do is ask.

Step 2

TALK TO SOMEONE ABOUT IT

Talking about it with someone you love and trust is very therapeutic. Share your feelings in a non-gossiping way. I always feel better when I can express what I’m feeling as well as get encouragement and advice. My husband has been so great that way. He helps me see things for what they really are… LIFE LESSONS. He helps me figure out what the lesson is and how I can handle it in a mature manner. He’s always there to remind me that I’m a great wife, mother and friend, I tend to forget. I’m sure you all have someone like this in your life, whether it be your spouse, a friend, sibling or parent. And if you don’t, then give ME a call :).

Step 3

READ SOMETHING UPLIFTING

Go online and start using google. Or search the scriptures for answers you need. Find an article that speaks to you and seems to be just what you need to hear. Read it a few times and really ponder the message. You might have a favorite book or even audio that helps uplift your spirits and gives you those positive affirmations you need. I love Joel Osteen’s sermons and all LDS conference talks.

Step 4

MAKE A LIST

You know how much I LOVE lists :). Make a list of all the things you’re grateful for. Then make a list of all the good things about YOU, remind yourself that you ARE amazing! We seem to forget so easily. I’m getting better with this as I get older and wiser, but I tend to let peoples opinions about me REALLY get to me.

Step 5

BE PROACTIVE

Let go of your pity party. Release those expectations you have of others and think of how YOU can make a difference in someones life. Look around you… is there someone in need? Someone hurting or struggling? If you can’t think of anyone then pray that you’ll find someone. Bring dinner to a family, or invite them over. Offer to babysit someones kids for the day. Visit the sick or elderly. What are you good at? How can you use your talents to serve others?

Step 6

WRITE

Write, write, then write some more. Let it ALL out. Put down your feelings on paper. Don’t hold back in any way, then tare it up. You don’t want to hold onto anything that may be hurtful for others to read. Wait a day or two THEN try writing down your feelings again, this time in a more positive way. Try to see the lesson and write about what you’re learning from this.

Step 7

GO OUTSIDE

Get out and get some fresh air. Go for a bike ride, a run or a hike. Then when you get back make yourself a healthy smoothie or salad.

You’ll be surprised what exercise, nature and good nutrition can do to your mood. If weather is not permitting then you can always do a little yoga.

Step 8

IMPROVE YOUR TALENTS

What talent are you working on improving at the moment? Is it singing, writing, cooking, painting, playing an instrument, photograpny? What ever it is start working on it. Getting your mind off the negative feelings and channeling that energy into something thats helping you become a better you will dramatically change the way you feel.

Step 9

BE PRODUCTIVE

Turn on some uplifting music and clean the house, organize a closet or your garage. Just get busy and get things done.

Step 10

PLAY WITH YOUR KIDS

Children have a contagious way of making you happy. Just watching how carefree they are, their innocence and love for the world around them. We can definitely learn from these little babies. Enjoy the moment with them. Take it all in. Notice their little smiles and laughter as you play with them. Smell their hair, kiss their cheeks and look into their beautiful eyes. Seriously the best medicine.

Step 11

SOAK UP THE SUN

The sun always makes me happy. Get outside and sit in the sun for 10-15 minutes. If the sun isn’t shining then try sitting in front of a Happy Light.

Step 12

DO A LITTLE PAMPERING

Get a manicure or pedicure. Get a massage, get your hair done or go buy yourself a new outfit. Go out to dinner or a movie with some friends. If you don’t want to spend any money, then go take a nice long bath with some essential oils, put on some relaxing music, use some deep conditioner on your hair, a mask for your face, then give yourself a mani pedi and finish off the night with a good ol’ fashion chick flick.

May we all see better days and appreciate our struggles because they mold us into a work of art.

January 31, 2018 · in Activities For Kids

14 Days of LOVE for Families | Valentines Day Fun!

Isn’t this such a great time of year to celebrate LOVE in all forms? Love for our spouse, love for God, love for family and love for ourselves. If you’re struggling with low confidence then check out my 14 Days of Loving Yourself post I created a couple years ago. It’s part of the #WannabeConfident February challenge. I’ll be talking more about this topic on my weekly live videos this month on Instagram, or you can catch the replay audio versions on Sound Cloud. Here’s last weeks episode.

I really try to make holidays special for my kids. It doesn’t always happen every year and for every holiday, but I do my best. Most years we’ve done some kind of activity as a family for Valentines Day. So I thought I’d create this post to highlight some of the things we’ve done over the years to help give you some ideas for your family.

Dinner Drinks & Treats!!!

Decorating the table and making fun “heart” themed dinners seem to be quite the hit in our home. The kids think it’s so great to create as many heart shaped foods and LOVE potions as possible!

This year I found a few new items at Shop LC which is for sure my new favorite place to shop. Not only do they have great household items at affordable prices, but sooo many gift ideas for any holiday. You gotta check out all their beautiful jewelry, plus, these handbags? All under $20!!!

I found this cute tray and Mason Jar drink set on their website, PERFECT for our Valentines LOVE potion drinks.

We made some yummy healthy jello in this heart shaped pan, topped with vegan coconut whip cream and fruit! This is my favorite!

We made these fun frozen yogurt hearts out of home made strawberry Kefir. So they are low in sugar and full of probiotics. All you need is some nice Easy Flex Heart 24-Cavity Silicone Molds.

14 Days of Love Lessons

Festive dinners and foods are fun but mostly I want to teach my children the importance of LOVE. So with the inspiration of one of my friends, I set aside a little time each night in February leading up to Valentines to have lessons on love. I found these cute heart shaped containers at the dollor store but you can also find something similar on Amazon. Inside I’ve placed a piece of paper with a small list of things we will do and talk about.

Here is a free download with a list of activity ideas, scriptures on love, and our favorite videos “Love one Another” messages on YouTube! Just print it out and you’ll have all these ideas handy from now until Valentines Day!!!

PRINT

I love taking advantage of all the wonderful resources on YouTube. We’ve kind of made it a tradition now with each holiday we look up YouTube videos that tie into the season. Here’s a list below of some ideas you can include in your daily lesson and activity.

~Make Class Valentines and boxes together as a family

~Make special drinks you can call “Cupids Brew” In this drink below we put a little sherbet ice cream in Marinelli’s

~Play games: Toss candy hearts into cups

~Watch our own home videos

~Make fruit plates

~Play I love you game: have each person say what they love about each member of the family.

~Look through family photo albums and share favorite memories.

~Decorate heart shaped cupcakes or cookies.

YouTube Videos

~Love One Another

~Love Thy Neighbor

~Families Can Be Together Forever

~What Matters Most

~Bullying- Stop It

~Moments That Matter Most

~My Brother Hyrum

~Continue in Patience

Scriptures on Love

John 13:34-35

1 John 4:11

Mosiah 4:14-15

Moses 5:2

Matt. 16:19

D&C 110:13-14,16

D&C 132:15-21

4 Nephi 1:15

3 Nephi 11:22,29

Proverbs 15:1

Proverbs 17:17

Moroni 8:26

Honestly friends, these are the 2 best family valentines day activities our children love doing. What about you? What have you planned for your family valentines day? I’d love to hear about it!

October 30, 2017 · in Monthly Challenge

15 Days of Overcoming Fear | Wannabe Fearless Challenge | Giveaway

Congratulations Tonya Thompson for winning this months Giveaway!!!!

Two years ago I started up the Wannabe Fearless Challenge because I noticed something changing about my personality. Being a stay at home mom I realized how comfortable I had become being an introvert. I found myself in a lot of socially awkward situations. My once outgoing and bubbly personality was no longer a way I would describe myself. I had become shy and afraid of speaking in front of people. The term “what you don’t use, you lose” was now a reality when it came to being social NOT on social media.

I didn’t like what I had become. I truly believe that we all have been given gifts that are meant to be shared with the world and how was I to share anything with the world if I was too afraid to do it. I knew I needed to do something, so I decided to create a group challenge out of it. I knew that if I was feeling this way, there had to be many other stay at home moms experiencing the same thing.

Fear had become such a strong emotion for me and it was holding me back from reaching my true potential and putting myself out into the world. I decided I wanted to challenge myself and anyone else willing, to do one live video a day for 6 months. One of the best ways to overcome fear is to do something scary every day and doing live videos was definitley scary for me. I saw this as a way to not only overcome fear, but as a way to improve my communication and public speaking skills.

After 6 months of consistently doing live videos I noticed some major changes in myself. First, my hand would no longer shake uncontrollably every time I went to push the “broadcast” button. Second, I became a lot more outgoing again. I talked to people everywhere I went, and I discovered I had a lot to say and wasn’t afraid to say it. I’m still working on my public speaking skills, but I did notice my words flow a little more and I’m not saying as many “likes” and “ums”.

I’m really excited to be teaming up with Steph Crowder with the Courage and Clarity Podcast. She has so much public speaking experience and in my oppinion is SO talented when it comes to speaking in front of people and being on camera. I’m always amazed with how well she speaks and shares her messages in her Podcast. I totally want to be like her when I grow up. Having my own Podcast is on my bucket list and I hope to be as amazing as her one day. Listen to the Podcast episode her and I did together this week.

Steph Crowder is Head of Member Success (aka, Den Mama) at Fizzle.co, the place for courses + community for thousands of creatives, makers and entrepreneurs. She also hosts the Courage & Clarity podcast and co-hosts The Fizzle Show. Her job has revolved around public speaking for 7 years and has been podcasting for 2.5 years.

She was kind enough to create a 15 day task list to help us develop some better communication and public speaking skills.

If you’d like me to send you the PDF printable then enter your email HERE.

One reason why I think this is such a great communtiy challenge is because we can support one another by watching eachothers videos. It’s a fun way to get to know more of the wonderful ladies in the Wannabe Balanced Facebook group. Just use the hashtag #wannabefearless and share your video links in the facebook group. I will do my best to watch all of your videos and support you by liking and commenting.

Also, I love making these challenges a little more fun by offering a chance to win a prize at the end of the month for all who participate. This month I’m giving away a $200 Gift Card to Modern Vintage Boutique and a $200 Michael Kors wallet. Below is a list of all the ways you can enter the drawing. Each task you do counts as an entry in the drawing.

ENTER GIVEAWAY:

Follow all 3 of us on Instagram: @wannabebalanced @stephcrowder_ @shopmvb
Share this blog post on social media and be sure to tag me and use the hashtag #wannabefearless.
Leave a comment here letting me know you’re participating in this challenge.

If you’d like to print off your daily task list then enter your email HERE and I’ll send you the PDF file.

DAY 1 Let’s get started with 2 facts about you. First tell us what you do. Then, tell us something we might not know about you – a little known fact, if you will!

DAY 2 Listen to this short, sweet and honest podcast from Amy Porterfield, then tell us: what scares you about video? Why are you choosing to show up anyway?

DAY 3 Show us how you start your mornings

DAY 4 Share a helpful tip with your audience

DAY 5 Show & tell us how you stay productive and get stuff done

DAY 6 Listen to this podcast episode with Natalie Franke detailing 5 ways to build a die-hard tribe online. What was your favorite tip Natalie shared?

DAY 7 Take us on a tour of your work space

DAY 8 Get real: show us the messy side of your life!

DAY 9 Share something positive someone said about you: a testimonial if you work with clients, a review of your product or podcast, a compliment you received from a coworker or something sweet your kiddos said.

DAY 10 Listen to this podcast episode about the 3 things you need to find your passion featuring Rachel + Kristen from Clarity on Fire. What stands out to you?

DAY 11 What do you *dream* of? Bonus points if it’s a big and bold dream that feels scary to say out loud!

DAY 12 Tag and talk about someone who inspires you regularly. What does she do to make you feel happy, supported or encouraged? Why do you like her stuff?

DAY 13 Listen to this podcast episode about how to stop fighting against the things you don’t like in your life and fall in love with them instead featuring Catherine Rains. Then share with us, what have you been resisting in your life?

DAY 14 Check out this article about why you might be feeling frozen and overwhelmed in your projects. What ONE small step will you take today towards making real progress?

DAY 15 Share a win with us! What are you proud of lately?

If you would like to join in on this challenge and receive incredible support and followers, then join our Facebook group called Wannabe Balanced. Everyone is welcome!!!

Just be sure to use the hashtag #wannabefearless as part of your title and share your videos on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. I would love to support you through this challenge by watching your videos. I did this challenge the last 2 years with a great group of women and it was amazing to witness the growth in just 15 days. Don’t worry about keeping up, or starting late in this challenge. Just start today no matter what day of the month, or even what month of the year it is. This challenge can be used anytime, just go for it!

Reasons why Live Video is so great:

*Huge time saver! Doing live video is much faster than blog posts. Being a mom of 4 small children doesn’t really allow much extra time. So I like to utilize video mostly and blog when I can.

*Great way to practice your speaking skills. It’s a little nerve racking at first, but I can see how much I’ve improved over the past 2 years since starting.

*The Instagram and Facebook algorithm favors accounts that use all their features. Most people don’t utilize the live video option so you will be bumped up a bit higher and have less competition if you overcome the fear and start doing more videos.

*If you are building a brand or business, it’s a great way to teach and share information in a more personal way. People can SEE you and hear your voice. It humanizes you.

*Since you are live and people are able to comment, it just feels like you’re face-timing with friends. You can get instant feedback and answer questions on the spot.

*It’s great self talk and a way to voice your positive affirmations and at the same time lifting others.

So come on everyone! Let’s work at overcoming fear one day at a time.

March 3, 2017 · in Activities For Kids

7 Fun St Patricks Day Activities For Kids

We’ve done a lot of different St Patricks day activities for kids over the years so I decided to combine them all in one post and share the different ideas for you to pick and choose from. Check out our 2018 St. Patricks day fun on YouTube.

Delicious Irish Dinner with festive treats

It was fun to first create a St. Patricks Day Pinterest board to fuel the creativity. Then we went to the nearest dollar store to find all the cute seasonal stuff they had available. I’ll create a shopping list for you right here. Just take a screen shot and you’re ready to go!

What you’ll need:

Check out this recipe and list of ingredients you’ll need for the Corned Beef Stew
Fruit plate: Strawberries, raspberries, cuties, pineapple, green grapes or cucumbers, blueberries, purple grapes,
Pistachio Jell-O instant pudding mix
1 20 oz can crushed pineapple
miniature marshmallows
Pistacio nuts
Cool Whip
Large Marshmallows
White Candy melts
green food coloring
cookies
black gel frosting
Spinach

Making pistachio jello is pretty simple. I don’t even measure really. Just follow the instructions on the pudding box, add the drained can of pineapple, a handful of marshmallows, a couple scoops of cool whip and sprinkle in some pistachio nuts. It’s pretty simple, definitely NOT healthy, but oh so yummy!

The leprechaun hats are pretty self explanatory but if you need instructions then you can find the actual pin in my St. Patricks Day Pinterest board. First spray the pan with oil or use wax paper to prevent sticking. Follow the melting instructions on the Candy Melts bag, add some green food coloring. Dip the cookie in the melted green chocolate, dip the marshmallow in the green chocolate, stick the two together and you’re practically done.

And here I just made your typical green smoothie. Banana, spinach and any other fruit of choice.

Color your pet!

This is one of our favorite things to do this time of year. We color Dresden green for St. Patty’s day and pink for Easter. The kids go crazy over it. All we do is first give her a bath, then put on some rubber gloves and pour green food coloring all over her. Massage it in really good, then rinse with water. This will last for about a week.

Sensory Play

This is so much fun for the kids… for the moms, not so much. Can be pretty messy but it’s all worth it right.

What you’ll need:

Dollar store St. Patricks day items, what ever you can find will work just fine.
Scoopers
White rice
Vinegar
Food coloring

Measure 1 Cup of Rice into a container.
Add 1 Teaspoon of Vinegar.
Add as much food coloring as desired (deeper color= more food coloring)
Cover and SHAKE container real good.
Check to see if it’s coated well.
Allow time to dry. Takes a few hours, stir it up every once in a while to help it dry faster.

Festive St Patrick Day Breakfast

You will never find sugar cereal at our house, but we do however make exceptions for holidays. Lucky Charms are the perfect breakfast for St. Patricks day. I’ve even used green food coloring for the milk but my kids refuse to drink it, haha. Guess green milk is not very appealing.

Green Bath

I basically just collected all the green toys I could find and threw in the dollar store items I got. Gave them some paint brushes and mixed up some shaving cream and food coloring for them to go to town with.

Shamrock Maths

This was a super simple St Patrick Day activity to make myself. I found the foam shamrocks at the dollar store and I painted these large popsicle sticks but I’m pretty sure you can find them already colored on Amazon. Then I just wrote down math problems on each popsicle stick and had the gold coins, again from the dollar store, to use for counting.

Then of course he needed some Lucky Charms to snack on cause it for sure helps him think better, and eating only the marshmallows is all part of it, right?

Make a Leprechaun Trap

This one is fun to do because they come up with something new every year. I love to see them getting creative and really trying to catch that little guy.

Lenny the Leprechaun has to pee too ya know.

July 16, 2010 · in FAB Fridays· Giveaways· Isagenix· Weight Loss

Weight Loss & Jewelry ~ FAB Friday Giveaway!

Today I’d like to introduce you to my friend Tezsia Mills the founder and designer of TEZ~MI jewelry. I’ve known Tezsia for about 3 years now. It’s funny because we met on myspace through mutual friends, and have become good friends since. We’ve hung out together, had playdates and have really enjoyed getting to know each other. I just love Tezsia, she is such an inspiration to me. She’s going to share with you her recent results on her 30 day Isagenix program. She had a baby not too long ago and wanted to do a cleanse to jump start her goal of getting the baby weight off. Along with sharing her results she has also offered to do a giveaway of her amazing hand crafted jewelry.

At the begining of the 30 day program I weighed 159 lbs. I currently weight 145 :0) I have lost a TON of inches and my butt shrunk.. my upper thighs .. I once again have had amazing results I went from a size 30 MEK jeans down to a size 28 right now thanks to the butt, thighs and waist. My tummy is toning.. I started this when urban was 6 months old and people can’t believe I have an 8 mo old child (just turned 8 mo)

its amazing.. and I love it!!!!!

I am a happy Isagenix user and its amazing… helped me feel like “me” again so soon after a baby! (ps im still doing the shakes ect.. I have about 5 lbs left to go, but I reached my personal goal!!! now I just need to tone!)

On the cleanse days I kept myself busy and packed my bottles of plain waters with me and in a cooler kept my premade cleanse bottles cold. It is easier I have found if you keep yourself busy it makes the time fly. On day 1 of the cleanse it went pretty well but towards the end of the day I just wanted to go to bed, but by day 2 and I would say about at about noon I was full of energy. I had read a lot of things having to do with toxins in the body and after getting my epidural I really didn’t think those things “stayed in my body” especially because I could feel my toes and everything nor did I think that what I ate was bad for me. I have found after doing cleanses it almost feels like my body breaths better. Its a weird analogy to think of but its almost like when you have a bad cold and you can’t breath and when you finally clear it up you feel better and function better. This is an all over function better, clarity.

What I am doing now since I have lost basically all of the weight and that was within the 30 day program. I still do the shakes in the morning its a fast breakfast. I eat a Salad or a mixure of fruit and veggies for lunch and a very simple protein dinner. I am a girl who LOVES food. I mean I gained 60 lbs with my pregnancies. I LOVE food! So I don’t starve myself nor will I eat cardboard and napkins.. I just use lemon juice on my salads now instead of heavy ranch or I’ll pick apples and grapes over potato chips most of the time :0)

Thank you so much Tezsia, it was great hearing about your experience on the cleanse, and I LOVE your before and after pics, you look amazing!!!

For the giveaway, she allowed me to choose from her selection and these are my two favorites. The winner will have their choice of earrings they’d like to have.

Summer Dream

Chunky

Just leave a comment below if you’d like to be entered into the drawing. For more chances to win, you can help us spread the word by fulfilling a few of these assignments below. You can leave a separate comment for each one. The more comments you leave, obviously the better chances you have to win, as I will be selecting a random number from the comments using random.org.

Vote for me on Top Mommy Blogs (you can vote each day, and comment each time, there are no limits to the amount of comments you can leave)
“Like” Tez~Mi on Facebook
Mention this Giveaway on Facebook (copy and paste this link to go with it) http://www.wannabbalancedmom.com/
Tweet about this giveaway (using this link, @balancedmomshttp://www.wannabbalancedmom.com/)
“Like” my Fan page on Facebook
Become a Follower of my blog

February 18, 2010 · in FAB Fridays

FAB Fridays

I’ve decided to start up a new project, and hope you will all join me in this endeavor. When I first started this blog, I said I wanted to talk about people, books, and shows that inspire me. So far I have featured a few people, and have also been featured a couple times, which to be honest, COMPLETELY made my day 🙂 Thanks to Melody at 6 Feet Over , and Bea at The Busy Mom Blueprint.

I really enjoy spreading the love and supporting my friends and fellow bloggers. So, I want to make this a weekly project. Every Friday I will feature someone new that has inspired me in some way or another. I love people who are positive, creative, ambitious, and believe in supporting others. We as women, LOVE to help and to encourage. It’s in our nature to nurture 🙂 It’s what gives us that sense of purpose and fulfillment in life.

I would love it if you all took part in this project, and featured someone new each Friday as well. What goes around, comes around, I truly believe that. Let’s embrace one another’s gifts and talents, and look at it as an opportunity to learn and to be inspired.

One of my favorite quotes is one from Gordon B. Hinkley

“It is as we serve, as we take time to express interest and concern in someone other than ourselves, that we are more likely to gain a glimpse of who we really are, and what we can ultimately become.”

This was the quote I put on my missionary plaque, and it has always been something I TRY to follow.

I already have quite a few women in mind, and I’m excited to introduce them to you one by one.

I’m working on a name, here’s what I’ve come up with so far, which one do you like?

Fabulous Female Fridays
Fridays Featured Mom
Fabulously Flabby Females , joking everyone 🙂
Fertal Female Friday, also joking
Fricken Fabulous Featured Female Friday, is that too many “F” words? sorry, tryin to keep this G rated.

So, I was thinking we should call it, “THE TRIPLE “F” PROJECT”

Tonya has designed a new button for this project. So if and when you join in the fun, then you can add this button along with your Featuring Friday posts.

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Feb. 20, 2010

Okay, I came up with a new name for our meme! By the way, I actually had to google the word meme, because I had NO clue what it meant.

Here is the definition: The term Internet meme is a phrase used to describe a catchphrase or concept that spreads quickly from person to person via the Internet.

Anyway, I appreciate all your feedback yesterday and have decided that, in order to avoid attracting dirty old men to this site, I would refrain from using the phrase “triple F”. Don’t want to disappoint anyone in search for women with (in Myda’s terms) “big honkers”. Haha, I was laughing so hard though, and thought perhaps I SHOULD keep it, but no, probably better to stick to a more classy name like, F.A.B. FRIDAYS. This stands for, Featuring Ambitious Bombshells. What do you think?

Fabulous And Beautiful
Featuring Aspiring Balancedmoms
Featuring Ambitious Babes
Featuring Ambitious Babymakers
Fricken Awesome Biotches …… sorry, just had to throw that one in