Home from a very fun 8 day California vacation. We had planned to do this vacation 15 months ago, but as you know a lot of plans have been ruined in the last 2 years. Once Disneyland reopened, I immediately started planning the trip. I was so eager to get Leo there before the "magic" wears off. Originally, when we planned the trip he was really into the movie Cars. I was a little sad that he wasn't as mesmerized by Cars land as I wanted him to be. But Avengers land put that magic and sparkle in his eye. I am so glad we were able to take him before he got too old. I am sharing a few tips and tricks for traveling to Disneyland and what I would recommend.

It is no secret if you follow me on social media that we live by the pool from mid April - early October. I haven't really shared on here much lately because I haven't had as many creative juices flowing and we quite simply have been busy resuming all the fun life things. Oh how we have missed traveling, going out with friends, taking the kids to parks and playdates, heck we have missed all the things. But nonetheless I finally felt like I had some fun summer items to share all from AMAZON.

For Leo's 5th birthday we gathered our closest family and friends and had a mad scientist birthday party. This was a drop off birthday and in true form of Leo having a February 7th birthday there was an big snow storm. It dropped a foot of snow on us the night of his party. Thankfully all his little friends were able to come and we had one heck of a science party. I have planned quite a few parties in my day but this BY FAR was the best party yet! Check it out.

Unplug from social media! Something that sounds so good in theory, but something I have never done. Social media carries a lot of weight and is the cause of many mental health issues. Fact is studies have found a strong link between heavy social media and an increased risk for depression, anxiety, harm, and suicidal thoughts. Social media should be a place that makes you feel happier, healthier, and more positive. I also find that it is a big ole waste of time. In fact, not using social media for a week my phone usage was down 38%. During my week off I read a book, listened to an audio book, was more productive and the biggest thing is my husband and my kids noticed I wasn't tied to my phone. I'm sharing some of my other thoughts and tips for a good social media detox. I will be doing another break from social media in May and  I invite everyone to join with me!

Thank goodness it is a new year. Last year I chose a new monthly goal instead of resolutions (check out here) but I found a month wasn't long enough to form a new habit or really get into my goal. So instead this year I am picking 6 goals instead of 12 and really focusing in on them. I found that I really loved this approach vs having one big new year resolution. Each month I would get excited to check out the post and see what goal I had. My goals this years are simple and what work for me in my life. I'm choosing to take on my biggest task in September and October because Leo will be starting full day Kindergarten and I know I will be missing him. So why not be distracted by a big task. 

If you follow my social media it is no secret that we have been enjoying ALL that the PNW has to offer. Jay and have I have taken the kids a a few little road trips since March. We had quite a few spring and summer plans pre COVID but after those trips were cancelled we decided to open up a map and look up some places in the PNW. I wanted to share some of our favorite driving vacations. Today's list is going to highlight some kid friendly and no kid recommendations for fall and winter!

Hey all you cool cats and kittens....did I really plan a birthday around the Tiger King? The answer is no but it may have swayed me that way. It is so funny what your children chose as their favorite thing. We bought Leo a bunch of lion things as a baby, I mean Leo the Lion, but he had absolutely no interest in them. Then our little Roe Roe enters the world and as much as I have tried for her to live in a world full of princesses, butterflies, and unicorns, she just loves lions, tigers, bears, dinosaurs, and bugs. She has a special love for Lions since about the age of 1. I would say she is actually OBSESSED with Lions to put it mildly. I had a different planned theme for her birthday but when covid hit and we had to have something a lot smaller I knew what the theme had to be. Carol Baskin from Tiger King.... then I texted my party planning girl Kate from Posh Party Bebe and she made my dream come true!

Finally after living in my house for nearly 4  years I finally got new living room furniture. While I would of loved to be able to buy new furniture right when we moved, that wasn't in the cards for us. We decided this spring to get new furniture and oh my do you see why people hire interior designers. My style isn't the popular Joanna Gaines, target, mid centery modern style that you find everywhere, so I had to work a little harder to find items I wanted. Oh and buying all furniture sight unseen during Covid was a bit of a task. I don't think it'll surprise anyone that I love pops color, items that tend to make more of a statement, and mostly I love mixing textures. So thankfully my Aunt Joni (amazing interior designer) put up with all my text messages every time I ran into a problem or needed courage to take a chance and buy pink chairs! While my taste isn't for everyone it really fits my personality and the style of my home which is more traditional. Now let's take a little look back into how much my home has changed since we bought it in 2016.

I don't have time to journal is what most people say. Well I believed that too until my girlfriend Liz told me about how to bullet journal. I did a little research about typically bullet journaling ,which I think is a great concept. Check out how to bullet journal HERE. But what I took away from it that you don't have to write lot of words down but you can just write down a few things that are important. The other fun thing about doing a journal this way is that you can kind of bust out your old high school gel pens and have fun doodling. This is my favorite thing to do in the morning, devotional, coffee and some doodling. I decided to take this type of journaling and apply it to my daily devotional (seen above). So check out some journals and devotionals that will allow you to take a stab at bullet journaling.

This year instead of New Years resolutions I made monthly goals. Check out the full list here! (it is never too late to start) April's goal was catching up on all my photos and baby books. I love taking pictures but my laptop has 25,000 photos, desktop has 30,000 photos, and my phone has 10,000 photos and videos. Needless to say this comes at a great time to get motivation to clear out some digital photos. I'll take you through my process and some apps and photobooks that help me keep things in order.