Perfection is not our goal, living the way God intended us to live is.
Welcome to my rebranding and republishing of my blog. It has been a long time coming and I am excited to get back into what I loved to do. Write and share. Coming soon will be recipes, home topics, health topics including my own struggles, budgeting and getting back on track. We have been through so much in the past 5 years and I am now ready to talk about it. Stay tuned, sign up to get notifications and thank you for stopping by.
Live Healthy.
Live Faithful.
Minimalism is something I have loved pretty much my entire life. I grew up living in a cluttered house and it wasn’t enjoyable for me. It may not bother most people and I completely understand, I also understand that most people think minimalism is boring. It means less stress and a cleaner environment to me. I wanted to share a bit about what we have done recently and throughout our marriage.
When we got married we had a lot of stuff! He had more stuff than me but it was a “we” team so that’s why I say “we” had a lot of stuff. Make sense? Ok, so…..we got pregnant two months after we got married. Fast, I know! Basically a year after we met, it was pretty stressful. We were still getting to know each other, you know? So anyway, we decided to buy a house. When we moved we rented a 29′ truck and had a few more trips with “stuff” and people put “stuff” in their cars and helped us. It was a lot! So we moved on in and it was a bit overwhelming trying to put things in places when you feel like it’s all just clutter. Well, we decided that getting out of debt was best for us. So we started following Dave Ramsey and we start our journey. First thing we did was put our budget and debt together and it was a shock to us! We were well over our heads with debt! And stuff!
First thing we did to get out of debt was getting rid of our car payment, we do not and still do not ever need a brand vehicle. Nice looking but not worth it! Second, we went through our stuff and literally sold 90% of it. We were able to pay off half our debt with just cutting our car payment out and getting money for all of our stuff. When we were done selling our stuff our house looked bare and it was amazing!! We decided to move to Virginia and we were able move in a 12′ truck and that was with a toddler too! Our truck was literally half full when we moved and we picked up stuff from his mom in Texas. Well, that stuff was stuff we didn’t need. So, when we got to Virginia we sold that stuff too. We bought a huge and bulky couch when we got to Virginia and just yesterday sold it. Thankfully we are not people that hold onto our stuff and like to be minimalists. It feels great, it’s stress free and it looks nice! I want to encourae anyone that would like to be a minimalist to step back and look at their stuff. Is it stuff you really need? Do you use it? If you haven’t used it in 6 months max, get rid of it. I completely understand that it is overwhelming (for the most part) at the beginning but I swear….it gets easier. I am posting a few pictures of what it looks like for us. The kids have a huge area to play and it’s completely easy to clean. I love to decorate and I’m working on it. But since we are in a rental and I’m staying on a minimalist budget, it might take me a while. Plus, I am extremely picky when it comes to decorating so that’s typically the hardest part. If you have any questions on where to start, how to start or anything just ask. I’m very open and honest.
Oh and by the way. I’ve actually been attacked on my way of living recently. I was told that I feel my way of living is the best. Well, for me it is but it’s not for everyone. If you feel it isn’t for you then that’s fine. We all have our ways of thinking and I can’t convince anyone to do what they don’t want to do. I’ve seen people come and complain to me because they don’t have money and scraping by, needing to get a job but yet they go out and buy a brand new vehicle. To each their own, right? Like our pastor just said yesterday; Quit lookin’ for an easy life, look for a better life-New Life Church Chantilly. Also, don’t complain about something without wanting to fix it. If you don’t want to fix it, don’t complain about it. I’m just sharing what we have gone through and hope it helps someone out there. I literally do not a lot of stress in my life and typically have a clean house all the time. So if it helps you, awesome! If not, now worries! We are just changing our family tree 😍
Live Minimal
Live Happy
Live Simple
Yesterday I opened up Facebook and saw a post about an Estate sale. On that post it had a Proform treadmill for $60. I have been dreaming of getting a treadmill again. I know….weird. Treadmills are my thing! I love cardio, I know….weird! I really do though. It helps me lose weight and it honestly makes me happy. On my way home from riding my bike for cardio fun, I stopped by this estate sale. It had just opened and I asked the lady if it really was $60. Long story short, they wanted $65. I checked it out and it looked, sounded and an great! I put a hold on it and came back with my hubby and a vehicle to take it home. I cleaned it super good and just had a chance today to run on it.
Wow wow wee! I love it. This treadmill first cost $800 brand new and I get it for $60. It only had 443 miles on it and that’s nothing for a treadmill. In my opinion. Like I said in my last blog post, do what you love when it comes to exercise. Some people hate cardio, some people hate weights, some people just hate working out LOL Do something you love! I love cardio and taebo. Absolutely love. When I do those two workouts I feel my best!
Get up and go! Start somewhere! And find something you will love to do. One foot in front of the other my friend!
Happy Sunday everyone!
Live positive
Live healthy
Live simple!
I went through a period of time where I was grossed out my mayo (mayonnaise). I literally wanted to throw a sandwich at a lady who nicely bought me a sandwich with mayo on it. Just because I hated mayo so much. I know….what I jerk I was for thinking it. I do not think that way these days and would kindly accept it now. She didn’t know. Time changes people right? Yes. Well mayo has a bad reputation, the old styles of mayo that is. I was grossed out by my weight gain (in my early 20’s) that I went to the extreme on dieting. No gluten(That was the worst), no meat (terrible), no junk foods and drinking diet tea that is very unhealthy. So you could imagine what it would have been like to add mayo to anything. Yuck.
Fast forward to better eating habits. I started eating vegenaise which tastes good but it is hard to find. I had been eating that brand for many years. When we moved to Virginia I wanted to find it, so I looked everywhere over here. I couldn’t find it so I was on the hunt to find a better for you mayo. Well I found it and wanted to share. The brand I found is Just mayo. Truly delicious and better for you. It even tastes better than the vegenaise brand I used to get. Yes I could go with the trend of using avocado as my mayo, but sometimes I just don’t want to use avocado for everything. After all, avocado is HELLA EXPENSIVE now. I would have to spend $20 a week to add avocado to everything. Moderation is key when it comes to avocados. Especially the price. We are on a beans and rice, rice and beans budget now. Ok, so anyway. This just mayo brand is truly the best price, taste amazing and healthier. My main thing that I look for with eating healthier is Non-GMO and no high fructose syrup. This is a Non-GMO mayo. So if you are looking for a better mayo to use, look no further. Just mayo Is perfect!
I also found an affordable, delicious and healthier bread made by a big brand. It is called Whole Grains with Omega 3 ALA made with Flax, Sunflower and sesame seed. It has no High Fructose Corn Syrup or Artificial colors or flavors. 
I haven’t looked at the local store for it yet but have been able to buy it at Costco. It tastes amazing with Just Mayo and healthy shredded chicken. Chicken sandwiched are super yummy, higher protein and you get your great grains included! My husband and toddlers love it also. Its a win for all. Hope you get to try out these two brands and let me know how you like it or if you have tried these two brand yet.
Have a Wonderful day!
Live Happy
Live Healthy
Live Simple
These are a favorite go-to snack for me and my kids. My 3 year old and 1 year old loves them. They do have ingredients in them that you should not give to your child until they are over 1 year old. Just throwing that out there. I have been making a similar recipe for many years now but this one I made a bit healthier so I can kick start my healthy eating. I eat an 80/20 “diet” but I I’m trying to kick it up a notch. I also make these for the women’s event at church and they absolutely LOVE them! I didn’t tell anyone I made them just to see if they liked them, people kept going back to get more. They are also such an easy grab and go snack. I put three into a snack size Ziploc and take it to go. Super easy and healthy.
I hope you make these and enjoy them as much as we do!
Ingredients (picture below):
1 Cup Oatmeal
1/2 Cup Peanut Butter (I use natural, super chunky peanut butter to add more crunch to it, YUM!)
1/2 Cup Flaxseed
1/2 Cup Walnuts (I chop them up in the food processor)
1/3 Cup Honey
1 tsp Vanilla
Directions:
Put all the ingredients into a food processor and mix. I typically have to scrape the sides 1-2 times in the mixing process. You could just put everything in a mixing bowl and mix until all together if you do not have a food processor.
Put them into the fridge (I just leave them in the food processor) for 30-60 minutes.
Take them out and roll them into small bite size balls.
Put them into a container and put them back into the fridge.
Take out what you need and keep them rest refrigerated.
They are super simple and easy to make.
Enjoy!!
Live Healthy
Live Simple
Let’s talk about getting out of debt for a few. If you have read, listened or taken the class for financial freedom with Dave Ramsey’s program you should know what I’m talking about today. When my husband and I got married we had a lot of debt going into our marriage. We had the simplist wedding in Vegas with literally a few people. So that was a super smart move on our part to start with. So we didn’t start with wedding deb like the normal couple. I got pregnant 2 months into our marriage. Not a super shocker but it took us by surprise. Fast forward to 7 months pregnant. We wanted to buy a house so bad we went through 22 offers on homes in California just to get one. We moved in at 8 months pregnant and finally when I took leave I looked at our finances. I haven’t really been good with finances my whole life but it was time to grow up and look. We were trying to figure it all out before I stopped working for good. We had a huge decision to make but in the end it wasn’t a question, I had to quit working and stay at home to raise our boy. So I wrote down our finances with my husbands pay only. Well I almost had a heart attack but really I had a mega panic attack. We needed $1000 extra a month just to break even, without groceries. Uh, I freaked. When my husband drove home after a 3 hour commute I told him I had no idea what to do. He mentioned that he had heard about this guy Dave Ramsey and that I (we) should listen to his podcast. That night I downloaded it and started listening to it the next morning. From the first moment I started listening I was hooked. I started googling about getting debt free and came up with a plan. The first thing we started with was listing our debt from largest to smallest. Since I was going to get my paid leave for a few months I told him we HAVE to use every penny to pay off debt. Little by little and almost every week we paid off more and more little debts starting with the lowest debt. I cancelled, closed and shredded every credit card we had. Store credit cards are rip Offs by the way! You think you are saving by their rewards? Nope. Guess what? You have to spend to save…..think about it for a moment. So everything was gone! The next step….get rid of the horrendous new Honda Pilot I fleased, yes it’s a lease and the worst kind of car payment you can have. You are renting a vehicle and really burning a hole in your pocket. That’s why it is called a flease in Dave Ramsey’s terms. My husband looked shocked! He thought I was a little crazy to want to return this brand new vehicle I loved. It wasn’t important to me, what was important was changing our family tree. Taking stress off my husbands shoulders. He was the main and only money maker in the house now and I had to cut things out. Getting my hair done, not anymore. I go maybe once a year now instead of every 4-6 weeks. Going out to dinner, nope. Mindlessly spending, nope. That year we paid off thousands of dollars and so much that we actually had $1000 extra cushion in our budget! Love, love, love!
Let’s fast forward a bit. We got an offer to move to Virginia that I didn’t want to pass up. People were thinking we were crazy to move from “beautiful, sunny San Diego” to Virginia…..but we didn’t. We wanted out of our mortgage anyway. The area was closing in on us with pot growers also and I really wanted a safer environment for all of us. We put our the little house on over an acre on the market and sold it within 1 week! We were shocked and just ready! We packed up, moved to Virginia. We put our debt free on hold so we were comfy to move and wanted to start back when we got here. Well……we went backwards. We “needed stuff” when we got here. New bed (needed a king not queen size) , couch (all we had was a small leather couch), tv (ours broke within a month of moving), went out to eat and those sort of things. One thing we did well was biking everywhere which saved us mega! We only filled up once a month on gas and that was amazing. Instead of every week in California. So, 3 months after we moved I got pregnant again. So guess what? We kept the debt free on hold longer until he was born. It’s what you are supposed to do anyway in case something happens. Right when we were going to start back on our debt free journey we decided to move to a bidder house and better area. Prolonging our journey but honestly it was the best move ever for us. Oh and we also bought a Jeep. Ha! We don’t have share a vehicle anymore, which actually helps a lot. It’s older also, not brand new and it was not expensive, thank goodness.
So here we are two years after we move to Virginia. One kid was born(paid in cash), moved(paid in cash) , lots vet bills( paid in cash), dr bills (paid in cash) and acquired more debt(not paid in cash 😦 ).
Last week I got what Dave says, “I got mad at debt, like really pissed off”. Last week I told my hubby, “that’s it! Beans and rice, rice and beans. I’m done!”. He completely agreed and so here we are….. Mad at debt! Not prolonging it anymore and getting after debt once again.
A question people ask or what I’ve heard people complain about is that they don’t want to eat beans and rice. I had some say they don’t want to eat crap. Um, did you know that brown rice, black beans, ground turkey, bell peppers, zucccini and broccoli is not crap. It’s yummy and health. We eat more than just that though, just smarter eating. And Um, he doesn’t mean you have to literally eat beans and rice. What he means is cut your grocery bill down. I eat super healthy and defenitetly healthier when we are getting out of debt. I lose weight and feel amazing. It truly is such an amazing lifestyle to eat healthy. And no, health food isn’t more expensive, it’s something you shouldn’t over think about. Stop drinking you fattening, super sugary Starbucks drinks. I bet you’ll cut your waistline down by just stopping that. And your wallet will thank you.
Here is our action plan:
1. My goal is to cut our grocery bills in half and use cash. Using cash scares me because I typically pick up items I believe we need but really we don’t. I don’t want to look stupid at the register and go over our allotted cash amount. Well, sometime you need to do things that are scary to succeed in life. So that’s what I am going to do. Also, I love Costco. Like absolutely love costco, but I seriously spend like $200 a week easily there. Then go to a grocery store and buy more. That is not necessary. So, I’m going to try to do away with Costco for the time being. Also, until winter hits and it’s is to cold, I will ride my bike to the grocery store to save money also. You can’t buy a bunch riding s bike, HA!
2. No more eating out. We don’t do this a lot anyway, but it’s gone completely for now.
3. I unsubcribed to all the clothing stores I get emails on and any other emails from regular stores as well. It will keep my mind in check on things we “need” but really don’t need.
4. I’m getting back to doing my surveys to get extra money. Recently I did surveys and bought my husbands PS4. He absolutely loves it! I typically buy our extra things with survey money. So I’m getting back to that.
5. Listen to Dave Ramsey podcasts. This is one way to getting my brain retired back to saving, it really has helped us a lot.
6. Encourage others to get debt free and feel less stressed. I see and hear a lot of stressed out people working for money just to buy things. It’s not a fun way to live. So if I can even help one person get on track to getting out of debt, I’ve done something life saving.
7. Get back to working out and look into personal training option. I have a passion for working out and really think it may be time for me to put it into action.
7. Practice making cakes and cupcakes, especially in the design area. I also have a passion for cakes, cupcakes and decorating. I really think it’s time to put my skills to work. Who knows, maybe it’ll help me reach out to others more and make a few bucks. As long as I can bring a smile to others that is a job well done.
If you have any questions one getting out of debt, just ask. I’m here for anyone who may need some help learning about it all. Join me on this journey, you (we) can do it!!
Live happy
Live debt free
Live simple
I have been away from blogging because we have been preparing to move. We have been looking forward to moving for at least a year. We finally found a place that was best for us. So today is moving day! 
When we first moved to Virginia we had never been here so we just picked a place we thought was good temporarily. And it was. But, living in an apartment gets old quick! We saved a bunch of money so that was probably the best part. The other great part is that if something breaks you just call the complex and they fix it. Honestly, that the best part about renting, period. We bought a house in California and it was ok. But, we started Dave Ramsey’s Financial peace after buying and quickly figured out we shouldn’t have. It wasn’t expensive for us. But we would have rather followed his plan beforehand. So anyway, fast forward to today. We are starting back on his plan after taking a break to move. It will be a challenge at first but after a month…probably two we will be set again. I am excited for our new adventure with moving and getting back on track.
The only kinda bummer thing is my last day at the gym was yesterday. I’ve come so far after this pregnancy but I know I can keep it up outside the gym. After our first kid was born I lost weight and toned up great without the gym. So, I know how to do it which is great. Starting Monday I am going to be on my new “get fit” workouts. It’s exciting! New start, new location and super positive outlook on life.
Hers my last day at the gym pic. 
I am under pre pregnancy weight and want to slim down and tone up in the next few months. My goal is not to be skinny. My goal is not to be hugely muscular. My goal is to be toned and slimmer.
The absolute best part is that we are living in our “dream” neighborhood now. Across from a golf course, kid friendly area, people always outside enjoying the weather and a very clean area. When we got to Virginia we drove through this area and said “one day we would love to live here”. We are so stoked! We are currently in the middle of our move but it’s nap time for the boys so I took a much needed blogging break 😉 Oh! And I almost forgot to mention, we are now going back to our original church we started at when we got here. AMEN to that! I’ve been praying we go back because I absolutely love the worship music. It reminds me of North Coast Church in Southern California. It’s my way of worshiping God. Everyone has a way to worship and that my way of connecting more with God.
So cheers to amazing time, exciting new adventures and living out one dream at a time. I will be able to blog more also 🙂 So cheers to that!
Live happy
Live your dream
But always
Live simple
This bread recipe I have been making for a really long time. I just started to make it again because it is way cheaper, you know all the ingredients and it is super yummy! Homemade bread just tastes SO much better than store bought. In my opinion. It is super easy and there are not a ton of ingredients.
Here are a few tips to start out with: I make it with almond milk. Almond milk? Last night when I made it, I swear it actually tastes better than when I used regular milk. Try it out! I used Silk almond milk Regular. Im sure you can use any kind but that is what I used. If you want to use cow milk that is perfectly fine also, just giving you an option. I also used salted butter last night, I really do not like salt but when I went to Costco and bought butter…..I accidentally bought salted :((( So if all you have is salted, It’ll still taste yummy! Also, this time around I used unbleached white flour, that was all I had in the house. I have used whole wheat also and it tastes great! If you want to try to have whole wheat flour I suggest starting with 50/50 blend. 50% white, 50% whole wheat. Whole wheat flour bakes a little differently so the bread texture is a little different. I have found that you may need more of less whole wheat flour versus white flour alone.
What you need: 2 bread pans or just cut the recipe in half to make 1 loaf. Easy. Cooking spray or just use butter in the loaf pan(s) so the bread does not stick. And of course the ingredients 🙂
Ingredients:
1/2 Cup Silk Almond milk
3 Tbsp Sugar
2 tsp salt
3 Tbsp melted butter
5 tsp yeast (I only use fleischmann’s yeast=amazing)
1 cup warm water
7 cups flour
Warm up your mixing bowl by filling the bottom up with warm/hot water. Let it sit for a minute and pour out.
Enjoy!! I hope you love the bread as much as we do. We are already more than halfway done with the first loaf and I just made it last night.
Live Simple
I love peanut butter. Well, love may be an understatement. HA! Every single day I have an apple and peanut butter. Everyday! It is normally my lunch because it is easy, healthy and oh so delicious. I have to tell ya, I never had peanut butter and apple until I met my husband. He looked at me strangely when I told him that I have never had it together. I thought it sounded gross. Well, now I have it every single day HA-HA If you have never had it I highly recommend it. I have never gained a pound eating it regularly. If anything I have to thank the combo for being able to lose weight and keep it off. Thank you Jesus! It is also budget friendly. We buy our Organic apples every week at Costco. I have compared the price to grocery stores and it does cost maybe a dollar more over all. but I have to tell ya, the apples are amazing every time. At the grocery store they tend to not be as good around here. Not sure what that is all about.
I hope you get to eat some peanut butter today! Happy National Peanut Butter Day!
Live healthy
Live simple
Finding different ways to add veggies into our diets is kind of fun. I noticed a few veggies I can sneak into our regular foods and it tastes amazing! Inexpensive and healthy.
I know people are going to recommend to me to take veggie pills and whatever else they sell to try to make some money. But me, I do not want them nor will I try them. I am not closed minded, I just don’t want them. I really am just a mom trying to get us to love veggies. We should be eating our veggies anyway, right? Ok. So I wanted to share the ways I sneak in our greens.
Just two simple ways to add veggies. And, the best part…..our 3 year old absolutely loves it! He eats a lot of it and has not complained about eating his veggies. The key to adding them to your foods is by cutting them into smaller pieces. I hope this can help someone trying to add veggies into yours and your kids diets. Without pills.
Eat Organic
Live Healthy
Live Simple
Flourishing Home with Hannah 