World Gratitude Day | 9.21.15

September 21, 2015 by Lindsay Ingalls 7 Comments

Happy World Gratitude Day!

There are so many things that I am feeling grateful for today that I thought I would share a few with you.

My Husband. He is my partner in life, the one that keeps me grounded, the one that loves me unconditionally, the one that puts up with my crazy ideas, my low days and is always there to support and love me no matter what. He is an amazing man, father and overall an amazing person that I am so grateful and lucky to have in my life.

My Children. Edith and Alder bring light to everyday, are constantly teaching me things about them, myself and the world around me and I am so grateful to share my life with them.

My Friends. My supporters in this crazy life we are living. Moving across the country and having to make friends as an adult is hard but I am so grateful for the amazing people who have come into my life over the past 2+ years and make life that much better.

What are you grateful for? Share something you feel grateful for in your life today.

*This is not sponsored – just a huge GT’s Kombucha fan and I did receive a bottle in honor of World Gratitude Day. GTs Kombucha is grateful for being able to share kombucha for two decades. To say thank you for all the support they’ve received for the last 20 years, they are introducing a new, limited-edition, raw, organic kombucha flavor called Sharing Gratitude in a beautiful screen printed bottle. With delicious, fresh-pressed, root-based vegetable juices turmeric, carrot and ginger, the flavor is a symbol of the company staying true to its roots. In addition, they are making a donation for every bottle sold.

INSPIRED | Life, Home & Lorna Jane Clarkson’s Newest Book Release

August 27, 2015 by Lindsay Ingalls 3 Comments

Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Lorna Jane via FitApproach. All opinions are my own.

Over the past few months the idea of living an inspired life has really become something of importance to me. I am actively seeking out inspiration in all aspects of life from food, to family, to fitness and beyond. Beyond seeking inspiration I also want to be an inspiration to others, but the thing is it all starts with you and often with home.

I’m thrilled to announce we have found a home that just overflowing with inspiration. From the moment we walked through the door we knew that it was just the place for us. This old home with it’s little details that just make you smile and feel warm and welcomed. Oh and the neighborhood – swoon – it’s one of our favorites in Portland and it’s close knit neighborhood vibe is perfect for finding inspiration everywhere you look.

Beyond the house and neighborhood is outfitting our home and I mean honestly when you are looking to live an inspired life what is better than a beautiful coffee table book that fits the style of our home. This incredibly beautiful book titled Inspired from Lorna Jane Clarkson is the perfect addition to our new home. I find myself flipping through it when I am in need of a really great workout or a great post workout smoothie (can we say Salted Caramel Protein Shake?).

Speaking of recipes there are a number of nourishing recipes filled with beautiful photos that have been salivating each time I flip through and I planning on trying out every nice cream (pg 84) recipe starting with the cotton candy flavor.

Some days all I need is a few motivational words to help me feel inspired or simple to help me through the day. Thankfully this book is filled with beautiful and inspiring quotes that fill me up everyday. I know it’s a bit cheesy and I always turned my nose up at quotes but lately I’m finding that there is nothing better than a good inspirational quote especially when I start to feel my mood plummet downwards or the smoke start to come out of my ears.

Simply put this beautiful book is one that I plan to proudly display in our home where I can easily pull it out for inspiration and so that it can be enjoyed by friends and family. Cheers to an inspired life and surrounding yourself with inspiring people, words and ideas.

What/who inspires you? How do you live an inspired life?

#LJInspired Insta Challenge

July 8, 2015 by Lindsay Ingalls 5 Comments

Lorna Jane has done it again. As you know I love her clothes and I’m obsessed with my MNB planner so of course I was thrilled to hear she is releasing a new book –Inspired.

In this inspiring coffee table book you can expect to find

Honest & authentic advice from Lorna Jane Clarkson on finding your personal style, dreaming big and balance

Nourishing recipes that look almost too good to eatp;

A glimpse into the inspiring LJHQ office

DIY beauty recipes like you’ve never seen before

Exclusive Q&A’s and features from iconic women who INSPIRE us

Chapters include: It starts with Believe, Dream Big, Style, Beauty, Happiness, Life at Lorna Jane & more…

I can’t wait to get my copy of Lorna Jane Inspired! Pre-order yours today:http://www.lornajane.com/INSPIRED/Inspired.

Fill in this blog prompt mad lib for a chance to win a copy of Lorna Jane’s new book, Inspired! Get our own copy of the;mad lib here –> #LJInspired MadLib Template, fill in the blanks with your own answers, and make sure to share your link, tagging @LornaJaneActive @FitApproach and hashtag: #LJInspired #SweatPink in all of your shares!

Love IG as much as I do? Join me starting on Monday, July 13th for a fun 5 day #LJInspired Instagram Challenge hosted by @FitApproach & @LornaJaneActive.

Here are the daily prompts:;

Day 1 (Monday, July 13th): How do you dream big? #sweatpink #LJInspired @FitApproach @lornajaneactive

Day 2 (Tuesday, July 14th): What’s your fave healthy swap? #LJInspired #SweatPink @FitApproach @LornaJaneActive

Day 3 (Wednesday, July 15th): Who inspires you? [Tag 2-3 friends!!] #LJInspired #SweatPink @lornajaneactive @fitapproach

Day 4 (Thursday, July 16th): What does happiness mean to you? #LJInspired #sweatpink @fitapproach @lornajaneactive

Day 5 (Friday, July 17th): What makes you an #LJInspired girl? #sweatpink @LornaJaneActive @FitApproach

And don’t forget to join me (and@FitApproach @LornaJaneActive) on 7/21 from 5:30-6:30 pm PT for a fun #LJInspired #SweatPink Twitter party for another chance to win prizes & a copy of Inspired: https://www.facebook.com/events/852624931491346/.

[bctt tweet=”I’m joining @FitApproach @LornaJaneActive for #LJInspired Twitter party on 7/21 (5:30-6:30pm PT): http://on.fb.me/1HIR2y2 #sweatpink “]

This post is sponsored by Lorna Jane. All opinions are my own.

Konmari & My Unintentional Capsule Wardrobe

July 7, 2015 by Lindsay Ingalls 8 Comments

We have a lot of stuff. Some of it has value and is used regularly but a lot of it has been moved from home, to home, to home. We finally hit a wall and decided that it was time to make some major changes in our home. I’ve tried a variety of tidying/de-cluttering methods so you won’t be surprised when I jumped on the Konmari* bandwagon.

While Neil was off this past week we both took on the first step of theKonmari* Method and went through and cleaned our closets. Included in the clean out where all of our clothes, coats, shoes, bags and accessories. I was surprised by how much clothing et al that I actually own considering I only wear a handful of items.

I went through my large pile of clothes and ended up with two boxes of off season clothes/pre-pregnancy clothes that still don’t fit but I would wear them in a heartbeat if they did. I also ended up with about 22 articles of season appropriate clothing, 10 or so pajama tops and bottoms and 15 or so workout tops and bottoms, plus one stuffed to the brim bag for thredup.com*, three bags to donate and one bag of items to just toss. Neil on the other hand still has a 40+ item closet, two boxes of off season plus four bags to donate and one bag to toss. #horders

After Konmari*-ing my closet I ended up with an un-intentional capsule wardrobe. This wardrobe includes:

1 pair of shorts
1 pair of crop pants
2 dresses
6 black t-shirts
3 tank tops
3 sweaters/long sleeve
1 denim jacket
4 sandals
1 healed sandal

If I’m being completely honest I would say that I could easily eliminate another 5-8 items from my closet because they don’t give me joy aka I’m not practicing pure Konmari*. Those 5-8 items are ones I kept because going out in the nude is not an option (for me). I have also hit that point in the season where I am having a hard time convincing myself to spend more money on clothes that I will only wear for a few months and ideally I’ll would never wear again because they will be too big (that’s an entirely different post). How do you deal with a lack of clothing when you are far from the size you want to be and you are mid season?

*Affiliate Link

A Minted New Year

January 5, 2015 by Lindsay Ingalls 7 Comments

If you are a Naturally Family reader you know how much I love Minted. We used Minted for our birth announcements and New Years cards (p.s. I’m sending them out today). We also gifted my grandmother the Vermont photo art print for Christmas this year and ordered ourselves Naturally Family business cards. As you can see I’m just in love. I love the designs, the customer service and the selection of products.

The newest addition to my Minted collection are their notebooks and planners. If you know me you know how obsessed with notebooks I am. I love the feeling of putting pen to paper (pen must have the cap on the end of course or it cannot be used) and just writing down anything I am thinking. My best blog posts are the ones that I put down on paper first. I make notes regarding blog ideas, recipe ideas, menu planning, homeschool planning or just simply anything that I am thinking at the moment. While I obviously love using my blog to write and share I first love to brainstorm and/or outline on paper first. I am also that way when it comes to planners.

Planners are another item you could say I collect; I usually have at least three going at one time. I like to have a planner for both of my blogs and one that is for our family and my workouts. I have tried to convince myself that online planners or iPad apps work just as well but for me they just don’t. Just like with blogging I like to put things down on paper first. That being said if it is an important task or event I will also put it in my Google Calendar so that I get an alert but first it always goes in my paper planner. There is just something about seeing everything laid out on paper.

One new thing I am doing this year is taking daily notes of what we did or a little anecdote from the day and recording it in my planner. I also have two notes books one for each of the kids to take notes about their year so that they will have it when they get older and can go back and see what they were doing or a funny quote they said.

I credit the idea of daily journaling to my grandmother for this idea because for as long as I can remember she has written in her journal everyday. It’s not a dear diary type of journal but more of a line of the day style where she records notes from the day such as what she did that day or who came over to visit. Often when we visit she will pull it out to tell us what was going on that same day the year before or if we are trying to remember when something occurred she can pull out her little journal planner and tell us. I love this about her and I have decided that I want to continue this practice myself.

Well ‘cheers’ to the new year and to new notebooks and planners. Is there anyone else out there that also shares my love for the handwritten word? Also if you love planners and/or journals you can get Enjoy 20% off all day planners, notebooks, and address books. Code: DAY20 but the promo code ends today January 5th so take advantage!

Also….I know that this is a big year for weddings and lots of friends are getting engaged (Congrats to our friends Laura and Aaron) so you or a loved one might be on the looking to send Save The Dates; while we are far beyond that point I can’t help but lust after the beautiful options on Minted

Disclaimer: Minted provided me with a store credit in exchange for posting my honest opinions. I would like to note that I loved Minted and shop the site often regardless of any store credit. Seriously I have an obsession.

Learning to Commit to Myself

December 15, 2014 by Lindsay Ingalls 7 Comments

Random photo for fun

I have a problem with following through with things. Not all things rather goals or challenges I set up for myself. I just can’t commit to myself .I don’t know what it is but when it comes to committing to myself I start a task and tend to lose steam about 25% of the way in and by the half way point I give up. At least I can say that I follow through 90% of the time (hey I’m only human) to commitments that I have to others.

I finally came to terms with this a few months ago and have been making an honest effort to follow through. The first challenge I had for myself was my DietBet* challenge. I did this because I wanted to get myself back on a healthy path. I knew I couldn’t lose the 4% body weight healthfully while nursing but I did know that I could get myself into a better place and I did it. I followed through and while I didn’t see a big drop in the numbers I did in the way clothes fit.

My second challenge to myself has been to participate in the #Elf4Health challenge this month. I love having the connection with other participants and my own elf and I have committed to giving daily updates on my Facebook page regarding each of the tasks. This has been such a great challenge to participate in and I’m so glad I opted in and have followed through. I have made more time for myself, focused more directly on my health and fitness and have made connections with others. This challenge is not over but with only a few days left I can say that I already know that this is a success.

My third challenge is one that I did because Neil decided he wanted to do a juice til 4 cleanse. Now I did not juice til 4 with him due to the negative side effects that a cleanse can have while nursing but I did agree to challenge myself to increase the amount of fruits and vegetables I ate and have no coffee, gluten, processed foods, or alcohol for four days with him. I did it! But even more notable is that HE DID IT! My husband spent the last 4 days doing a juice til 4 cleanse and I have never been so proud of him, okay maybe I have but still this is huge, if you know my husband you might know his will power to pass up free treats is low and he is notorious for being one of those “well I worked out so..” type do people and yet he did his. 100% committed did it. He feels great, isn’t craving the crap that he was and just overall is feeling like the restart button has been pushed. I feel better too and just like him cut the cravings for processed food and sweets.

What Have I Learned? Committing to myself feels good. I have been feeling successful and healthier both mentally and physically. That being said I am thinking that monthly challenges for myself might be a good thing to try. I have done this in the past and they have helped me out a lot but I also have learned that I do this better when I can do it with others. So that being said who wants to take on some monthly challenges with me? I am thinking starting January doing a monthly health or fitness challenge would be fun. I know that incentives help so I am thinking a giveaway at the end of each challenge for those who finish a challenge might be a fun addition. That being said who is interested and what kinds of challenges would you want to participate in?

*For full disclosure I made $0 off the entire game after deducting Neil’s entry into the game.

Happy Holidays with UncommonGoods

November 23, 2014 by Lindsay Ingalls Leave a Comment

We are just a few days away from Thanksgiving which for us is the big kick off to the Holiday season.Can you believe that it’s almost December? This holiday we are really focusing on spending time doing special things as a family and with friends. While we will be exchanging gifts we are are limiting our gift giving to five gifts each and a stocking. Besides putting a cap on the number of gifts we give each other we are also requiring that 75% of the gifts purchased come from local shops and/or ones that give back.

One shop that we will be supporting this holiday season is UncommonGoods a Brooklyn based;privately-owned;retailer that features unique designs and handcrafted gifts created in harmony with the;environment and without harm to animals or people.

I had the joy of searching through theUncommonGoods site and choosing some gifts from their suggest Christmas gifts, stocking stuffers and personalized gifts. I ended up shooting the photos of all of these items while Edith and Alder were napping because there a few fun things that I just can’t wait to give them. Luckily they don’t know how to use the internet yet, although Edith is getting there, I can share them here with you in this post. Neil on the other hand is very experienced with using the internet so instead he gets a few of these gifts before Christmas and some will be given to friends and family who just might be reading this right now.
I can’t believe that Alder will soon be eating solid foods so in anticipation of that and Edith’s love for playing with her food I chose these fun Food Face plates. Honestly I think I should have picked out one for each of us because how fun are these? Oh and these Animal Hands will be perfect for Edith’s stocking and since she is so little I think Neil and I might get to play with them too.
For the man/men in your life you might like these two fun gifts. The first is a selection of beer jelly’s that are actually made in Vermont (my home state!). UncommonGoods sells a four pack that includes four different types of jelly’s for the beer lover in your life.As a stocking gift you might be interested in this mustache and beard comb especially a great gift for those who have been participating in Movember! Neil has already tested this out and it’s now permanently in his pocket.
Lastly we have some relaxing gifts for the ladies. I’m not going to reveal which lovely ladies in my life will be receiving these but I hope that they use them and feel relaxed. Both the bath soaking tea and the eye mask smell so amazing and would be perfect as a combination gift or even as stocking stuffers.

A few reasons that we love this online retailer:

• It is aB Corp: B Corporations use the power of business to solve social and environmental problems. As a B Corp UncommonGoods meets rigorous standards on a wide range of issues, including wage levels (the lowest paid seasonal worker starts at50% above the minimum wage!), environmental impact, and giving back to our community.

• TheirBetter to Give Program: With your purchase UncommonGoods is proud to donate $1 to the non-profit of your choice. Since starting the program 12 years ago they have donated over $300,000 to charities around the world!

• The Products:Half of what UncommonGoods sells is handmade, most are created in the USA and 1/3 are made from up-cycled or recycled goods.

Visit UncommonGoods to find the perfect Christmas gift for everyone on your list.

Make sure you check out all of the gifts on UncommonGoods that you can have personalized.

Oh and don’t forget UncommonGoods impressive selection of stocking stuffers.

Naturally Lindsay

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