Life lately

Hello everyone,

I know I've been gone and I'm sorry the hustle and bustle of life has left me a little tired lately but here's what's been going on.

In March I adopted a beautiful pug/terrier mix. I didn't have any information on her besides she was two, a female and if no one took her in she would be euthanized so I took her in. I took her in the week that my boys were at their dad's . She was nervous of around people and in one week we got her accustomed to people by bringing her everywhere with us. She met the boys and we were really surprised, she loved them she's a kid magnet and loves it. We've got her vaccinated, and bought her everything she needed including sunglasses/goggles and a life jacket. She's been four-wheeling, and canoeing and my partner brings her fishing all the time. She is my little shadow and the boys love her. We've found out that she hasn't been spayed but that will be happening in July.

It's been busy for the rest of us too. We've been having fun with the dog plus I've been busy with the rest of the boys. I've went canoeing several times with my partner and four-wheeling. My oldest had his first birthday party which turned more into a play a date since only one of his friends came over but we had fun. I'm also planning a small family get together for my youngest son's birthday. 

I've also been trying several new recipes if you follow me on Instagram you will see a few of them which I'm going to post on my blog soon as well.

That's all for now folks.

Me

October 2015

Hello muffins,

So I haven't completely lost my mind in October. I've had a few rough parenting weeks but I've found myself getting calmer and realizing that I really just need to breathe and realize a few things.

My boys have definitely been challenging this month but that's OK. I did lose my cool a few times and I'm not ashamed of admitting it. Now, by losing my cool I don't mean I went Rambo and destroyed my house but I did yell. In the middle of my yelling I realized that what I was doing was wrong although it does happen. I then took the time to apologize to my youngest ( he'd been waking up all week at 2 and falling asleep 30 minutes before wake up time, I was exhausted) and gave myself an adult time out. That's right, I treated myself like I would treat my child if he had a tantrum and I found myself so much calmer. I think as parents sometimes we get so frustrated because we just feel like we need time to breathe and sometimes we don't get that. And when we feel that way we just get lost in frustration, forgetting that our children (especially the younger ones) can't quiet communicate the way we want them to. They are learning about feelings and how to respond and let's just say when I caught myself acting on this absurd kind of fit I realized that I didn't want my child to react that way. I want him to communicate the proper way, to talk and explain how he feels instead of pushing his wants on to others. So for the rest of the week when I started to feel frustrated I just took a step back to observe my situation and then talk to my child the way I would want him to talk to me. I want my children to learn that it's OK to be frustrated and be emotional but there is a good and a bad way.  Inthe weeks that I had them with me I noticed that the calmer I was the better the children were and not only did they communicate better with me but with themselves too. I also found that I was better at analyzing my feelings and that most of the time my frustrations were due to a communication break down and that asking questions to my children and trying to understand them by asking questions made my life a whole lot calmer and the children's too.

As it comes to my vegan diet it's been hard. I don't eat anything that is non vegan in my house and at work since I pack my lunches except chocolate and candy, I won't lie that's been hard) but at restaurants and at families houses I'm a complete failure. I see meat and I want it which I can generally refrain myself but most places so far don't really offer vegan options so I do I have to work on that.

Halloween costumes turned out pretty good.  The boys costumes are a bit big but that's OK. Collecting candy with them, my hunny and my best friend C was great.

This was the outcomes of our costumes.

When it comes to my vegan repertoire of cooking I didn't really make anything to impressive. I have fallen in love with Chana Masala which is an Indian dish typically made with some milk but I was able to take the milk out and substitute it with coconut milk or almond milk. I also made a vegan version of coleslaw which turned out to be delicious. No recipe but if II get the ingredients again I will mark the ingredients and give you the recipe.

I got to go to bulk barn this weekend which was loaded full of nuts and products that I don't normally buy here where I live because I can either not find it or it's to expensive. I know I have to watch the ingredients even in the list as some of them contain milk for some reason. With that said I did find some good ingredients that will hopefully allow me to make some more great dishes to enjoy as a vegan.

I am also hoping to put a few reviews up on the blog. One about a product I've received through bzzagent and one will be an adult review.

Love

Me

September 2015

Hello muffins,

I know I'm a bit behind in posting how I did in September I've just had a really hectic month.

My oldest started school. I can't believe how fast time goes it's crazy. I swear I was just changing him diapers and bottle feeding him yesterday. Now, he's just a big ball of happiness, always eager to help and play.

Along with school both boys have started at a new day care that comes with new rules and it's a bit hard to get used to it. The new rules make things a bit harder between my ex and I when it comes to children's medication but I am getting on my way to making everything easier.

I also had a lovely wedding to attend I was a bridesmaid. It was fun and cold and I am very happy I got to attend such an event.

My goals for September were as follows:
Get some pickling and jam done.
Complete the budget from August receipts.
Finish organizing the house ( my room and kids toys
Learn to hem pants
Make one vegetarian "dish" a week.

So how did I do pretty good I have to say.

I didn't make jam but I did make some Cajun picked carrots and beans. I love the taste of the carrots but not so much the beans. Since I don't like the beans so much I've giving almost all my jars away.

I've also learned how to make cooler wine. My hunny and I have made a batch of black cherry wine and one wild berry. We also have another lime flavored one that needs bottling this up coming weekend. This month if finances allows we want to make an actual red wine to use for cooking and special events.

I did a budget with August receipts but August was such a weird month of spending which I normally don't do that my budget just didn't work. I did however just repaid my credit off this month ( October) and hopefully I can keep it that way.

I'm hoping that come January I can make another budget that's accurate that will include: savings for holidays, presents, insurances and just regular savings.

When it came down to organizing my house all that was as half success. The kids toys were sorted, while the rest of my house just got worse. Right now I feel a little crazy and since cleaning and organizing will get done.

Learn to hem pants. Haha, that was an experience. I got a sewing machine and I've never used one. By watching a few videos on YouTube I got the basics but let's just say I still have a lot to learn. I managed to break only one needle which I think is a win. :)

The last thing on my list was to make one vegetarian meal a week. Well I've started a journey to veganism so all of my own meals are meatless ( I do eat meat and animal by products such as cheese and eggs when I go out for supper but I am trying to stop that too.)

This is one of my favorite lunches a quinoa salad inspired by a recipe in the book oh she glows.

Goals for the month of October:

Make Halloween costumes

Continue growing my cooking repertoire for vegan food

Try not to lose my mind ;)

Any ways I'll have to stop this here my battery is at 2%. :s

Have a good month my loves

P

Month of July

Hello muffins,

So July is almost done and I'd thought I'd give you guys an update. I won't lie and say that it was perfect because it wasn't and well I hold honesty high up there in what's makes a good person. We also all have our failures and I think that it's OK to say hey I wasn't perfect but I tried.

I did three weeks of fitness blender WO plan that I bought. It is great and low impact but for some reason or another I didn't feel motivated to do anything.

I was supposed to check in with my spending which was also a bust but I did keep must of my receipts. This month I found a box that will be perfect to keep all my receipts to keep track of my spending. I did spend a little extra today. I went out of town and bought a few things I needed and didn't need but I don't get out of town often so I took advantage of this. I need to remember to add a spending allowance in my budget.

This month goals are to :
Finish organizing the new house
Get back into an exercise routine ( I will be taking pictures and measurements)
30 day you challenge ( taking 1 hour a day to be with just myself no one else with no electronics including music)
30 day no-POO challenge ( that's right no shampooing for 30 days)
Making my own toothpaste ( coconut oil, mint oil, baking powder)

I am looking forward to all these challenges. I'm also looking forward to organizing the house. Things are still a little all over the place and I find that the clutter is making it hard for me to stay motivated because all I'm stressing and focusing on is the clutter.


Other wise I'm hoping to make August a better month then July was.

Love

Me ;)

The new life

Hello my loves,

I know my postings have been very spaced and I do apologize and Iwant to let you all know why and WHT I am hoping to do with this blog in the next few months.

The last three months of my life has been extremely hectic. If you follow my blog you will know a bit but if you don't here is a recap.

After a 7 year relationship with my now ex-fiancee I finally threw in the towel. We went through many ups and downs in our 7 years together including having two marvelous boys (now 2 and 4). Our relationship had fallen into shambles not by lack of trying (trust me we tried) but I had decided to make the decision that I couldn't live the way we were any more. I was becoming more and more angry at life and with the person I had become. I was no longer a good role model for my children and I didn't want my children to think a relationship is just made of fighting so I left.

I moved into my mother's basement for two months. I shared my room with my two boys which I have every second week ( luckily this was something me and my ex B were able agree on).  I met a new man about. week after I had left B, we we were just supposed to be friends. We had had a long conversation about how we both weren't looking for a relationship. He did get to meet the boys because we'll we were just supposed to be friends. K (I will call himK) left for several days to go see his children and it is in that absence that we made the decision that we would try our hand out at a relationship.

Now this wasn't an easy or typical relationship and finding time
 we could see each other or a place to spend together alone was hard. Him and his father share a bachelor's apartment. His dad only comes down for his one week work rotation and thenkewaves but with that said they work opposite schedules and when K works he is in bed by 9 o'clock the latest. My work schedule is also changing every week unlike jhis which made things a bit harder too.  Living with my mom and having my children with me every second week also made things hard but we made it work.

K knew that I was scared of starting a new relationship. I thought I had failed miserably at my first serious relationship we will call it and it wasn't just me that I was afraid to hurt. I not only had my heart to protect any more but also my boys. He reassured me not by telling me that everything would work out but by just listenning. He took the time to understand what was bothering but WHT was also important to me is that I knew he understood because he is a father himself. I know that a lot of people judged me and will continue too but that's OK because I have learned that I need to live my life despite what others think because what others think isn't l ways what is best for me.

Finally, June came around this was a huge step for me. I moved into a sort of town house that is geared to my  income my rent changes from month to month based on what I made that week. For the first time in my Imoved out on my own with no roo mate or boyfriend literally jut by myself an actual independent woman ( which is a scary thought considering I'm 26 and have two boys).  Here is where we are now.

I know that o wanted to do the 52 weeks money challenge hell I blogged about it and started but unfortunately I had to spend a lot of money when I moved. I bought a new fridge and stove, a washer a used dryer and I bought my  parents old bed. I was lucky enough to have single bed and my brother gave me his old one for ,y boys which meant that My littlest monster was being taken out of the crib and straight into a bed.

I won't lie this month came with a lot of freedom and well at the end of the month when the bills came out I was freaked out I don't think I have been ever so broke in my life and that is scary. That reminded me of why I started thiss blog and now with my life really in shambles and coming together all at once has giving me more motivation to keep up with this blog.

I have just started  new being healthy journey. I am not calling a weight loss journey because it's not what this is about. The journey that am on is for me to become a whole new better life. I want to become more financially independent, healthier for my children both physically and mentally. I want to become a better person especially since I know that I have been more then inconsiderate and mean and just down right not ok with others and I can totally own up to it because no I am not perfect.

I want this blog  to hopefully reach a few of you out there and make everyone realize that there is always room for improvements and that if you fall you just got to shake that dust off and get back on your feet.

July is approaching and for the month of July I will be keeping track of all expenses for the months to make a new budget since my old one is no longer applicable. I will also be keeping track of my health journey with you. I hope that you will follow along.

I have joined fitness blender and have taken a 4 week low impact workout program with them and I am getting back into yoga 2-4 times a week. I am also eating healthier since I am paying for a program that sends me enough non-GMO and pesticide free produce for 3-5 people and I'm eating it all with a bit of help of course but still.

That is the full update and I am hoping to get my new phone soon so I can take the  pictures I need to help you follow me on y
my journey.

love

P

Strawberry rhubarb tart

Strawberry Rhubarb Tart

hello everyone,

I'm writing this from a tablet so I do apologize if it's not the best format. My phone broke and I am currently waiting to get a new one. 

I have been really busy between moving, learning my new role as a single mom and starting a new relationship with new friends and old ones as well as a personal relationship with someone I have been finding it hard to make time for myself. Last week was one of those weeks where I was able to find time for just myself and no one else and in that time I was able to do some baking. 

This year I took part in a program that last 18 weeks and I get fresh non-GMO and free from pesticide straight from farms around this area. My first box came with rhubarb and other then cutting it up and freezing it I decided to try my hand at a king strawberry rhubarb tarts.

I remember my mom making these and oh how good they tasted so I gave it a shot. I made my pie smaller because I knew Iwould probably sit there ND et the whole pie to myself. Making them inot to tart sizes this allows me to share it with friendsand family and keep my portion in check now that Iam once again on the trying to be healthy train. 

Any ways enough babbling here is the recipe. I hope you enjoy it as much s I did.

The crust I used was on this site it is from Ricardo and it is eggless. I to this recipe because my oldest is allergic to eggs and it is so far the best pie crust I have found.  I double this recipe to make approximately 24 tarts. 

THE FILLING

4 cups rhubarb cut into pieces

4 cups of strawberries cut into pieces

1/2 cup of white sugar

2 tablespoons of corn starch

Throw all then ingredients in a pot. turn it on medium heat and let it simmer for about 10-15 minutes or until the rhubarb is tender. 

If your mix is too runny just add a bit more cornstarch until you've reached the consistency you want. 

Once your mix is ready put it in the raw tart crust and cook it in the oven at 425 for 20-25 minutes.

You can then sprinkle confectionery sugar on them or add any other type of topping you'd like.

Curly Hair Care

Hello lovelies,

Growing up I used to hate my hair. As many of you ladies know brushing and combing probably involved a lot of screaming, yelling and crying for some of you. Me especially, I have curly hair and growing up I hated it. I ended up cutting it super short in grade 4 when I ended up catching head lice and kept it short for a long time because I didn`t have to maintain it. As I grew older I started letting it grow out. I unfortunately didn`t know how to take care of my own hair because I never had too. Since I didn`t know how to my hair grew frizzy, damaged, extremely knotty and was just basically a big hairy mess.

So today  I decided that I would write a few tips on how to take care of your curly hair.

Use a Comb:  Use a pick or wide tooth comb to untangle your hair. Brushes causes the hair to frizz and it also causes damage ( split ends). A wide tooth comb is much easier on curly hair, it also helps keeps the curl in strands. I also limit my combing to every second day I find that my hair gets less frizzy when I do this. Using your fingers in the shower to un-tangle your hair also works wonders.

Condition: Curly hair needs to be conditioned often and washed even less. Washing your hair strips your curls from the much needed natural oils that it needs to stay smooth and frizz free. If you take a shower on a daily basis don`t wash your hair everyday. You can condition it every day and wash it every second day if you absolutely need too. I often go several days without washing my hair. You can also use dry shampoo it absorbs some of the oils but not all and then there is always all those up-dos that work better with dirty hair and that are absolutely cute. There's also new conditioners on the market that have a cleanser in it that removes the dirt from hair and is much more gentler then shampoo.

Use those products:  Think now that you save all that extra money on shampoo you can spend it all on other hair products. Depending on how bad my hair I can use up to 3-4 products on it in one day. The products I do use the most though ( I don`t use a particular brand I normally just buy whtaever is on sale) are leave-in conditioners and smoothing serums. Every now and then I will use hairspray to tame some fly-always. I also suggest trying different products what may work for me might not work for you.

Find a good hairstylist: I find that hair stylist with curly hair themselves are the best stylist to have. They understand how curly works. Different curls act differently when cut.  Also make sure you pick a hairstyle that suits your face. You don`t want to end up looking like a poodle.

Air Dry: Letting your hair dry will help prevent frizz and damage caused by heating instruments. A cotton t-shirt works wonders to take most of the excess water out of your hair. If you must dry it with heat please use a diffuser and use a heat protector product that will help keep your hair safer from heat damage.

Don`t touch: Once you style your hair let it be. Touching it will cause it to frizz.

Be gentle: Don't use hair elastics that are too tight or have to much group as this will cause your hair to break. Also using a satin pillow case can help prevent frizz and damage since it allows your hair to move freely in your pillow case when sleeping.

I have a picture of my curls. Yes they are looking a bit because I've neglected my own rules of curly hair care lately with my busy schedule. Things are settling down and my hair will hopefully be back in full bloom soon :)

Until next time muffins.

Me

Update

Hello muffins,

Yes I know I haven't been on here in a long time and it is not because I didn't want to be. I may actually be absent often like this for the next few months.

I have made a big change in my life and it has been a bit hectic since. I have decided to leave my fiancee ( also known as hubby on here) of 7 years. I won't list the details only that it wasn't working anymore. I am currently living at my parents and having shared custody of the two children on a one week on, one week off interval with the children. They seem to be adapting pretty well although I miss them dearly when they aren't around.

I have paid off my bank loan and my credit with the money that I had saved up from the 52 week money challenge. I haven't continued the challenge because I am currently trying to pay off the taxes that I owe and enjoying a bit of my hard earned money as well by splurging on new foods at the grocery store.

I am hoping to be in an apartement within the next few months and being able to afford the internet and a new computer to keep my blog going on.  I will try and work on the blog a few times every months if I am capable of it.


That is about it for now.

Goodnight

Me

To shave or not to shave? that is the question

Hello ya'll,

So today I am going to share an experiment that I have been doing with the husband. A few weeks ago a Facebook friend posted a link to an article that I absolutely loved. It was about why we are often disgusted by body hair.  I am giving you a warning now this may be a little TMI for some).

After reading the article I had a discussion with my husband about this issue. I don't quiet recall the whole discussion except for the part where my hubby told me that and I am quoting him " as a man it personally doesn't bother me". That led me to answer " Ok. I won't shave for the next three month" and that my friends is how all this happened. My husband didn't want me to write about this as now the world will know how weird I am but I am ok with that.

It has been a month now that I have been up to this no shaving thing. I decided to hold off on writting about it because to be honest I didn't know if I could do it. The first month has been weird I haven't shaved, plucked or rimmed anything  ( and I mean ANYTHING). My razor had been silently staring at me right in the face in the metal wire hanging basket in our shower. I have been tempted on many occasions to reach for that dear old friend of mine but I haven't. It was weird at first and still is to apply deodorant in front of the mirror and to see a dark patch of hair under my arms. My legs and nether regions don't bother at all because well like many women in winter I typically don't shave them that often.

I did tell some of my friends and co-workers what I was doing. Most of them had the same disgusted face that I was gross ( or more so my arm hair). My best friend thinks this whole things is great and  I have to keep her updated on my armpit hair growth. I myself have mixed feelings of the hair, but I think it is just because I am used to having them shaved.

Now I have to say besides having hair nothing has really changed. I don't smell any more then usual, I am not dirtier ( in fact my showering routine has stayed that same). I won't deny that after this experiment I don't know if I will continue on this journey of being hairy.  I do have a complete waxing appointment ( eyebrows, armpits, Brazilian and legs) booked already and I will blog about that experience too.

Have you ever gone without shaving? What are your views on hairy women?


Me

Fibromyalgia

Hello everyone,

So today will be a more serious post. I haven't blogged a lot in the couple of weeks because I have been exhausted and sore from my Fibromyalgia and Rheumatoid Arthritis. Today, I decided that it might be a good idea to write about it so you can understand what it is.

What is Fibromyalgia?

Fibromyalia is a chronic pain disorder. It cannot be diagnosed through x-rays or blood test or any other medical machinery. Doctors diagnose patients based on there symptoms and through a physical exam by touching and applying pressure on trigger points that are known to people with the disease ( although some people have widespread pain throughout the body). Women aged between 25 and 60 are the ones who are the most at risk to develop this disease then men are but no one knows why yet. There is also no known reason as to why people have this disease. Scientist think that the disease can be triggered by trauma to the body ( i.e.. infection, accident and child birth).

What are the symptoms?

Some of the symptoms that affect most patients are:

• Fatigue ( Patients can have a lot of fatigue due to many reasons. Living with pain is exhausting. There is also the fact that many of patients can't sleep through the night because they are sore. IT is a vicious cycle. Being tired makes you sore and being sore deprives you of sleep)
• Depression
• Pain and tenderness in certain areas ( there is at least 18 tender points, Some of them are located in between the shoulder blade, knees, neck and hips all carry tender points.
• Anxiety
• Fibro-Fog ( the inability to stay concentrated on a tasks) 
• Head aches

Although some people may have all these symptoms some of them may not. 

What is the impact on life?

Due to the pain that comes with living with Fibromyalgia many people become irritated and have trouble functioning. The motivation to do chores or even hobbies can become hard to do.  Even parenting can become a hard thing to do. 

Treatment

There is no treatment yet for Fibromyalgia. How ever there is many medications that can help with the pain. Keeping active can also help with the symptoms of the disease. Some scientist even think that diet can effect the person.


How does it affect me? Like any other diseases or medical conditions I have good days and bad days. Normally if I have what I call an attack ( a day when I am extremely sore) it is normally coupled with a bad day for my Rheumatoid Arthritis.  Most of my pain from FM is in between my shoulder blades and in my calves although I have days where even parts of my skin hurts ( normally it is my forearms but sometimes it is everywhere).

Sometimes it is very hard for me to function. The pain can keep me up at night, so having a good nights sleep is often rare. Sometimes simple tasks are hard for me to accomplish because I just can't concentrate. Being a mother and a good person towards others in general is also hard sometimes. Being exhausted from the pain and lack of sleep often makes me short on patience but with that said I do remind myself that I am not frustrated at my children or others and that I have to find good ways to vent these frustrations and not let them out on my children and others around me.

To keep my mind off of my pain and to keep my irritability in check I do a lot of things. I read, exercise, knit and do rug hooking. These activities keep my mind going and my fingers nimble. I find that that more I become inactive the more I get sore. I do believe that staying active helps alleviate some of the symptoms from FM and RA but that it keeps me from falling apart both physically and emotionally.

For those of you who do follow me you may realize that sometimes my post may be scattered in topics or just down right not make sense and often it is because I am exhausted and I just can't think straight. I often blog as another way to cope with my daily pain and stresses.

That is about all for today though. I hope that this post has shed a bit of light on what FM is and how it affects a person. 

Sources
http://www.webmd.com/fibromyalgia/ss/slideshow-index
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/fibromyalgia

Yoga challenge completed

Hello everyone, 

My last post was about the update on my 30 day spending freeze that I did in January this one will be about the 30 days of yoga that I did along side the spending freeze challenge. 

I started this challenge because 1) I love Yoga 2)I fell off the yoga challenge and 3) I figured it was a good way to start the new year.  

I posted a picture of myself doing yoga every day for the 30 days that I was doing this challenge to keep me motivated. These pictures were also posted on Instagram. 

I've learned a lot of this yoga journey and I am continuing in this journey. I haven't been doing yoga everyday but I do take the time for it every second day. I also started a 30 day meditation challenge which is proving to be harder then I thought it would be  ( any ways back to the yoga challenge).

What have I learned and gained from this challenge? 

I am more flexible and strong then I thought I was but I still have a long way to go. I was able to surprise myself with some of the poses and how easy they were. Some of them that were a bit harder for me became easier by the end of the challenge. Finding out that I was stronger physically then I thought also  made a difference in how I thought about myself mentally. I found that I am more confident in my abilities as a person.

Making time for myself on a regular basis is important not only for me but my family. Taking care of a family is a lot of work and taking time for myself started taking the back burner again. When I started this challenge I wasn't sure I was going to be able to do it everyday ( I missed two days and made up for them the next day by doing two practices). To my delight I found time for myself everyday to practice yoga. Even if the boys were up I would still practice. Yes, it wasn't all easy to do when they were up but I still did it. It made me smile seeing my kids play on the mat with each other ( even if that meant I had to practice on the wooden floor), sometimes they tried the position I took and other time the practice also became play time with the kids. I learned that taking time for myself was important because I was just walking through my days not really present. I knew obviously what I was doing but I mean I wasn't there in a sense that I didn't feel connected or grounded to anything and yoga has brought that back into my life. 

I've become stronger and less in pain. I suffer from Rheumatoid Arthritis ( swelling in the joints) and Fibromyalgia ( a pain disorder), doing yoga for some reason or the other has seemed to help with this pain. I don't know if it is because it helps relieve pain caused by stress which lowers the amount of discomfort  ( when it comes to my fibro) or if the deep breathing and different poses we take helps with better circulation of the blood and other fluids that help alleviate swelling ( When it comes to my RA). Either way that is a great thing for me, being in pain often makes me a little bit less patient and exhausted all the time and this practice seemed to help me become a better person because I am less aggravated by the pain I often find myself in. 

Go with the flow. At the beginning of this journey I was following every instruction and following the sequences as we were told. What I like about yoga with Adrienne is that she gives us permission to just do what feels good for us. As I got closer to the end of my journey I started doing just that, I started doing what felt good for me, I often just started doing my own sequences sometimes rejoining in with the video but it was nice. I gave myself freedom to experiment and try what felt good for me. That is a lesson that I am now trying to take into my every day life. To just go with the flow and try to bring things that feel good into my life like, laughter and happiness. 

I will definitely continue in this yoga practice. Right now, I am trying to work on achieving two positions. I am working on the crow pose which is an arm balance stance and I am working on building strength on my arms and shoulder girdle to be able to do a headstand ( don't know how long that one will take to achieve).  I want to continue my journey to becoming a the best I can possibly be.

That is all for now. 

Namaste

30 day spending freeze if OVER.

Hello peeps,

If you have been following this blog you will know that I had taken up two challenges for the month of January that lasted 30 days. I was posting on a weekly basis but I took the time to post this one at a later date since the challenges were over soon.

The one challenge that I took that I will be talking about on this blog will be about ny 30 day spending freeze. That's right, I went ( or at least tried my best) 30 days not spending any more money then I needed too. Anything that wasn't on my grocery list wasn't allowed to be bought, no buying snacks at work or taking extra cabs.

The first week I spent 15$ that I wasn't supposed to ( read this post). The second week was great  I didn't spend anything extra ( read this post). .

For week 3 here is how it went. I was having a great week of fighting all the urges to spend money and then Friday happened. I brought my debit card with me because I had to do groceries that day and one of the deli meats that I was keeping my eye on in the hopes that it would go on sale or discounted for 50% off just happened to be 50% off that day. I had packed a light lunch and so I bought it that cost me 4.24$. I also bought an extra bag of pepperettes ( 9.99 on sale) and 4 things of pancotta also 50% off ( 2.25 each after the discount=9$) besides those expenses I didn't buy anything else that was on the list so week three I overspent 23.23$.

Week 4 I also didn't spend a penny extra in my last week of the challenge. All in all I didn't do as bad as I thought. I won't deny it though it was hard. Some days I just wanted to buy things, not because I needed to but because I wanted too. I realized through out this experience that a lot of my spending that was stopping me from saving money and paying off debts were on little things that I really didn't need. Like the pack of meat I bought because I wanted to try it, along with the 50-100$ extra that I would spend on groceries not because it was necessary but just because I wanted to have it. It was an extra thing on hand that I had to eat when I was bored. I realize now that our grocery bills can stay low. Yes, my husband has spent a few more dollars this month because he got all the good sales. I think ( even if it was my turn to do groceries) that spending money on extra items you actually need when they are on sale is fine. I also think that yes, once in awhile go ahead and spoil yourself with a little something but it doesn't have to cost a lot of money.

Although my spending freeze is over I will definitely watch what I spend money on and continue to look at all the progress I have made. I have also continued on my 52 week money challenge by continuing to put what ever amount of money I could aside each month ( anywhere from 10-50$) I cannot wait to see how much money I will have saved at the end of the year.


For now that is all. I will talk about the 30 day yoga challenge and how I felt with that.

Nighty, night

Me

Weekly update and a GIVEAWAY

Hello love muffins, 

Just a quick update on everything going on this week. 

The no spending freeze is going well. I haven't spent any money. I am really proud of myself for this. It has been really hard not to spend any money on things I don't need. At work I am surrounded by snacks and a bunch of other food goodness. Sometimes even if I bring my own food I still find myself wanting to eat things even though I am not hungry. To help me curb these urges of wanting to eat I just drink water which seems to help. 

I am also doing the 30 days of yoga challenge with YWA. We are on day 19 and I feel amazing. I won't lie this is also a little hard. I don't always want to do yoga. There has been a few days when I really didn't want to do it but I pushed through it and when I was done I felt really good. 

I want to stick those habits and I am hoping that after these 30 days I will continue these habits. I was reading this article the other and it claimed that  can take 214 days before a habit becomes an automated response.  I am hoping that with determination I can bring these habits into my life and keep there. Last year I was doing a great job at exercising and then at the end of the year all my resolutions went into the gutter because I caved in to all my unhealthy habits. This year I am going to stick to them and lead a healthier happier life. 

My words for the the last yoga days have been:

Day 15;Appreciation

Day 16: Relaxation

Day 17: Energy

Day 18: Forgiveness

Day 19:Opposition

I will be reviewing a subscription box with the next month ( shipping out on the 27th of this month so probably February). They have informed me to a give away and I am gladly inform you about it. 

It is by Beanbox they are doing a give away for a free aero press and a one month subscription ( the box alone is 20$) .

Click here for the link and your chance to win.

Good luck everyone. 

Me

The de-cluttering of my bedroom

Hello Everyone, 

I just wanted to update everyone on my goal to living frugally and one of those was to clean and organize. If some of you have read some of my other post you will know that I live in a small two bedroom apartment and space is sparse. That said here is the journey of me cleaning my room ( don't mind the mess). I only took pictures of the two places that were the worst in my room so here it goes.

My dresser

Now, this part of my room was one of the worst. My clothes was pretty much just thrown in there god only knows how wrinkly my clothes constantly came out of there just to be put back the same way. My underwear, sock and bra drawer were just as bad I could never find what I wanted because everything was buried. The top of my dresser had two baskets on top of it which were just loaded to the top with towels and facecloths that we barely used. 

So what did I do to clean this part of my room. I took everything that was on or in it out and off. I gave it a good clean and then I started the real hard work. I folded, sorted and decided what I was keeping and what I getting rid of. I also decided to try and place my shirts by dark, colours, under shirts and exercise clothes. The plastic bag that you see in both pictures are all the scrubs I am keeping in case I decide to go back into the field of work which I studied in. 

One of my drawers holds all of my underwear and my bathing suits. To organize it I took all of my underwear and decided to roll them up, in the process I got rid of the ones that had holes and were stained ( I am a woman I bleed and leaks happen) . This makes them easier to stack up on one another and makes my drawer look so much neater, with the room left over I put the bathing suits that I decided to keep neatly folded beside them. 

My sock and bra drawer got a similar treatment. I got rid of all the socks I knew had holes in them or didn't have a match to go with them. My bras got the exact kind of treatment. I placed my bras neatly on one side in a row so I could see all of them without having to dig through  the heaping pile I have collected and the socks were put beside them.

For the baskets. I took out all of the towels and went through those too. All of them that could be used for rags were put with the rest of the rags. I also got rid of a few towels that we just didn't use because they were so old. We also had our dish clothes in that pile and they were moved to a newly organized spot underneath the kitchen sink.

The Corner

Now if you can imagine the bits of pictures you see above isn't the complete mess that was in this corner. This corner is where everything and anything was put. from clean clothes to dirty clothes and everything in between.  To clean this corner the first thing I did is I grabbed all the clothes that was thrown in it and put in it in the laundry. The bit of clothing you still that still remains in the clean picture is that of my hubby. The one on the boxes are pants that I need to get hemmed once my 30 day spending freeze is over. 

I also went through my plastic containers, sorted through and gave away some of my yarn. I also went through all the paper work that I had laying around. I also got rid of the smaller plastic container. I tool all of the items in it and put it in the longer one at the end of my shelves ( I went through all my plastic containers and organized them.). I then took the small plastic container and removed it completely from my shelf which allowed me to put the boxes of my big yarn project down on the shelf instead of the longer plastic container ( my pile of junk was pretty darn high).

The other parts of my room that were cleaned were all my plastic containers as mentioned above. I have two long tall ones and one tiny one that got moved. I was able to completely clean one of the large drawers from the plastic organizer. I also filled one with all of my products that I need to use up before buying or making more. 

I also cleaned out the top part of my pantry which held cleaning supplies, a printer that we no longer used, and several dishes and glasses that we never used ( in 6 years). I still have the shelves to organize and to do inventory of. 

I also cleaned underneath the kitchen sink which was filled with old cleaning products that we never used, or half emptied cleaning products that we forgot about. I put the small plastic organization container that was in my bedroom and put it underneath the sink and  put all of our dish clothes that were found in with the towels in my bedroom underneath. Now, we find all the cleaning supplies that we need. 

In the kids room, I went through all of their clothes and got rid of what didn't fit the boys and put in a rubber maid container the items of clothing that I can pass down from my oldest to my youngest. I also got rid of all the baby blankets, and receiving blankets that we had since we had so many of them and no longer use them.  I also went through the boys toys that are all in the living and got rid of some since we got a bunch of new ones for Christmas. It is hard for me to get rid of their toys because they still play with all of them and a bunch of them I know they will play with when they are a bit older. The biggest toys I got rid of was a mega blocks rid on fire fighting truck which my mom wants so it is going to her home. We are also giving away a ride along zebra that turns into a scooter and a 4 wheeler. Those are the ones that take the most room and that we have no space for. Also the children often can't play with these as they make a lot of noise and we live on the top floor of our building.

I still have a lot to go through but some of the things are for summer. We still haven't decided whether or not we will be getting rid of the stroller come summer, because it all depends on how long my youngest son will be able to walk ( we don't have a car). I also still want to go through the kids stuffed toys and the rest of my kitchen. 

For now that is all the news of my journey to living a more frugal life ( although I think everyone should do this on a regular basis even if you're not living frugally).

Pat

Challenges

Hello muffins, 

As promised I am keeping you to date on all of my challenges. Last time we talked I said that I would post once a week to keep you updated. I know that I am a few days behind from the last I blogged about my two 30 day challenges that I am taking. 

The first challenge is the 30 day spending freeze. Last week I  (my hubby) spent 15$ on chips and I haven't spent any money that hasn't been needed to spent. I managed to save about 50-100$ on my grocery bill last week ( I shop every second week) by following a grocery list. I was amazed at how much money I could save by having a list and sticking to it.  I used to have a list, follow it and then buy whatever else I wanted and my groceries would cost me anywhere from 200-300$ and up on some occasions. I am very proud of myself to sticking to the list which is one of the tips on my this post which is about saving money on groceries.  I also picked up about another 4 hours of work which will help the pay. Daycare is closed tomorrow so I am also saving another 28$ dollars there which is great. 

Since I am not spending all that extra money and trying to save it I have also joined the 52 week money challenge that they have at the bank. I know that there is many versions online of this in fact check out Pinterest you will find many versions on this. The bank that I deal with ( RBC) is using this to get people to open a TFSA ( tax free savings account). I already had one so I told myself "Hey, why not try it?" it falls right into my 30 days of no spending. The challenge that the bank gives you is to pay 2$ a week in your TFSA. I on the other hand am doing it my way. Instead of putting a certain amount every week in the bank I am trying to put what I can and at the end of the month if I can put more into the account I will. A lot of people try to follow the 52 week money challenge either the right way where you start with 1$ or the reverse way ( which is not wrong) starting at 52$, but I am not following the chart for one reason. What if I don't have 50$ to save I will feel like a failure so instead I put aside what I know I can comfortable go without. I know how much money I have to put on my phone, credit card and  loan will be but I also have many expenses that change. Such as, my grocery bills and daycare.  If you are interested in this challenge it isn't too late to start. You can follow along with the plans that people have, or do it like me and just put what you can aside and at the end of the month put whatever you have left in your account away into your savings account.  

On other news in the money department I had put some money aside ( in cash) at home that I needed to deposit with that and the amount I have to pay on my loan and on my credit I will have paid off 690$ in debt this month. That might not seem much to some but considering my the amount of money I make this is a lot for me. If I can continue along this line of saving money at the end of the year I should have enough to completely pay off all debt by the end of this year and still have money left over. 

The other Challenge I took was the 30 days of yoga which I am really enjoying. I am taking a picture of a pose from the sequence that is posted every day. I find that my mood has been improving greatly and so are my eating habits. I did miss yesterdays practice but I made up fpr it today by doing today's video and last night's video.  I am also starting to become less sore again which is definitely a plus.

Each day we are to pick a word. I am trying to pick a word every day of something that I want to work on to make myself better.  Here are the words so far. 

1. Calm

2. Patience

3.Happiness

4.Duty

5.Strength

6.Quiet

7. Healing

8. Love

9. Breathe

10. Laugh

11.Mindful

12.Playful

13. Determination

14. Perseverance 

Those are all the words I have been breathing into my practice and trying to work on in my daily life. I also put the pictures of the week I am writing on my blog about or you can follow blog on bloglovin  or daily on  Instagram.

Happy New Year! # 30 days spending freeze

Hello love muffins,

This is the beginning of a new year and I am hoping that it just keeps getting better from here. IF any of you are new to this site let me tell you a bit about me.

I am a mother of two boys and a wife to a lovely man. We currently live in a two bedroom apartment in a small town in Ontario, Canada. I work part-time and I like to blog about everything and anything. My blog has mainly consisted of subscription boxes ( list and review), my journey to a healthier me and now my journey to living frugaly and hopefully be better off financially at the end of this year.


Now that I am back in my own home, in my own bed my head filled with a hundred more great memories and pictures it is time for me to think about my biggest goal for the year. The one I really want to tackle.

My biggest goal this year is to get rid of debt. That was actually one of my tips in this post that I wrote at the end of 2014. Getting rid of debt is one of the most important things to do on my list but also the hardest especially on a tight budget. I am hoping to pay my two debts off ( 1,300$)  in order to be a little less stressed out when it comes to the time of year when I need to pay off three life insurance policies and the insurance that we have on the content of the apartment.  Those are my biggest financial drains in the year and they all come out at the same time every year. When I made a bit more money it was fine because I was able to save money and put it aside but not so much in the recent years. I have used up all the money I had set aside for emergencies and I am now starting at zero.

With all that said I am hoping to pay off debt with the new lifestyle. I think it might be hard for me because I have always been a bit of spender and I am doing this alone. I love my husband and he loves me but he doesn't want to join me in the frugal living and that is ok. It might not be for him and who knows at the end of the year it may not be for me or he will change his mind and decided that this kind of living is for him.  To save money I have decided to go on a spending freeze. That means buying only what you need and nothing else.  I found this idea while browsing on Pinterest and noticed that many people were trying it and I decided why not? I found this little article on wise bread on how to do a freeze. If you are interested check it out it helped me know where to start and how to survive.


The first step was to make a budget. I made one with what I spend now and what I should be spending on my needs.

Category	What I used to spend	What I need to spend
Bank	245$ ( loan, RSP, RESP)	245$  ( loan, RSP,RESP)
Phone	50$	50$ ( will see if there is a cheaper plan)
Groceries	600+	300-500$ ( depends if it’s diaper week)
Daycare	450$ ( if they go for 16 days)	450$ (if they go for 16 days)
Other ( credit card)	150$ ( I spend 100 and, pay off 50$)	50$ ( pay off)
Total	1, 495$ ( this is often times more then I make)	1,295$  ( this is within my budget, if not still more then I can afford)

This is what it looks like. Now, I did write a few notes in there that is to tell me what I can be looking into and what my budget looks like if I need to spend that money. My children rarely go to daycare 16 days a months but I put it in my budget in case I need too. Also, groceries depends on whether or not I have to buy diapers and pull-ups as they add about 50-100$ more to what I need to spend.

You will also notice that I don't pay rent,internet or netflix. That is what my husband pays as he is a little bit more financially stable ( he receives the same amount of money every two weeks his pay does not vary like mine does) he also pays groceries every two weeks ( we take turns) . 

In case any of you wonder no we don't have a shared account.  We have our separate accounts because that is just what works for us.

I decided to go at this alone in the sense I am not recruiting anyone in my family or friends because many of them already know what I am doing but I am encouraging you to join me in this if you would like. At the end of the month I will be writing a summary of my spending to see what I saved. I am planning on doing this for the month of January and then we will see how much longer I will continue.

I now have to decide what I am going to do with the money that I save. I am hoping to keep half of it in my account for savings to pay off the 4 insurances that I have ( 2 kids, mine and content). The other I am hoping on using to pay of my credit card and then my bank debt. 

Other things that I have done and probably mentioned already. I have cleaned out my room, one of the things about living frugaly was to de-clutter and organize. I organized my bedroom ( I had gotten rid of several towels but my hubby decided he wanted to keep them, I tried reasoning with him that we didn't need that much when he didn't want to budge I just said ok. So I will have to find a place for the dish towels to go). I still have the pantry which is at the entrance of my bedroom to go through as well as the rest of the apartment which will probably take me a little while to go through all of it. In my bedroom alone though I have gotten rid of two garbage bags and 3 boxes of stuff. I have also found a lot of opened products that I can still use. I have put all those products together and working slowly on using them all up. The products range from hair care ( 2 hair spray can, 3 mousse cans, several anti-frizz products), Skin care ( creams, soaps), Make-up ( I threw out mascaras that I no longer used, several eye-liners, eye shadows), I also found several toothbrushes, pads, band-aid and polysporin tubes.

I will be giving the boxes away along with some of the kids toys that they no longer use that take up a lot of space. I could probably sell them and yes have a bit more money in my pockets but I prefer to donate things to people that have less then me. 

I have also tried to make brown bread a miserably failed but that is ok I will try and make bread later on. 

I am hoping to continue with this blog and have more followers this year and inspire people. Once my debt is paid off I will then think about reaching saving goals and buying a few things once I meet those goals but I will do that later once my debt is paid off. 

Happy New years, 

ME

Just another day

Hello Pumpkins,

I've been pretty busy today in my quest to living frugaly I wanted to use up a bag of whole wheat flour that I've had for a while so I decided to try and make some bread with it.  I thought making bread is easy I've made white bread before so whole wheat bread shouldn't be any harder well boy was I wrong.

I started off with this recipe. It did not go well, The bread barely rose and the bread tasted awful. I don't know what I did wrong but let's just say it was a disaster I then decided to try two more recipes of my own. They turned out a bit better but let's just say if I want to make brown bread I will have to have a lot more practice.

I also made some Cabbage Casserole soup. I will try and find my recipe for the vegetarian cabbage casserole I used to make this soup and then write what I used for this soup. I always like to use recipes that I can use in another one. I came up with this recipe because like many of us my hubby has a Pinterest account. He likes to look at food porn and had shared this recipe.  I then got an idea, again on the living frugal path I remembered that I had made extra cabbage casserole ( vegetarian) when I was doing one day of meatless Mondays ( really thinking of doing that again) that was probably about to go bad so I decided hey turn it in to soup. So adding a few ingredients to the casserole voilà it  turned into a yummy hearty soup. Again, I will post it as soon as I find that darn recipe.

I did the normal things of bathing the kids and making supper. My hubby has now decided since yesterday that the whole family will be watching Christmas movies which make me chuckle because well he is a bit of a Grinch. Yesterday we watched Home Alone ( the original with Macaulay Culkin). Tonight we watched Frosty the snowman and Frosty Returns ( he and the youngest fell asleep watching this). As I write this I keep peeing at my two sleeping boys and my eldest who is trying so hard not to fall asleep. I am thinking of how blessed I am right now even though we are struggling right now financially, I am so thankful that we have everything we need but mostly that we have each other.

The rest of the week is me working except for Saturday that will be my only day off until the 23rd and then hooray a week off  to spend with all my loved ones.

The last couple weeks have been bad for me exercising in fact I really haven't done much. I've gained 5 lbs in the last two months. I have been extremely sore so much so that I have developed 4 cold sores in the last 2 months because of the fevers I got from my Fibromyalgia. I have done some yoga and I hoping to get more in this week, I have decided to start from the beginning when in comes to exercising. My eating habits haven't been too bad it is more my portion sizes that I have to start watching again. With everything happening it is a bit stressful and I am an eater this time of year ( or any time sleep evades me and stress creeps in). I know that is a big issue I have to work on. I was getting until now. I think I am just giving myself a bit more leeway just because of the time of year it is. Come the first I will be right back on the good track. I am going to continue and have a few yoga sessions in the next couple of weeks. The health eating habits ( not binge eating and portion sizes) will probably come back once the holidays .

That is the latest update from me. I don't know if I will be blogging any more until the New year. If not.

Merry Christmas and Happy New year,

ME